Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Lower Burrell is one of the best-graded places in America: an A+, 57th among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 86% of U.S. towns, and homes are within reach, about $212K for a typical one, or 2.8 years of the Pittsburgh metro’s $76K median household income. Its lowest mark, a B+, is in schools. 25% of residents are 65 or older in Lower Burrell, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (21%) and U.S. towns (18%). The biggest park or preserve is Burrell Lake Park, at 37 acres. Lower Burrell's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 80% of U.S. towns.
Where Lower Burrell beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Lower Burrell | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9.7% | 14.5% |
Where Lower Burrell’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Lower Burrell is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 11,952 in 1960, 11,758 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers and 5 maps from 1907 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lower Burrell. Close and well known come first.
Big draw18 mi Stadium & arenaAcrisure Stadium
16 mi Theme parkKennywood
18 mi LandmarkFort Duquesne
18 mi Stadium & arenaPNC Park
17 mi Stadium & arenaPPG Paints Arena
18 mi LandmarkFort PittAcrisure Stadium: Fo2grfr, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kennywood: Ski2007 of English Wikipedia, Public domain · Fort Duquesne: Sébastien Paquin, CC BY-SA 3.0 · PNC Park: alpineinc, CC BY 2.0 · PPG Paints Arena: Jleedev, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fort Pitt: Downtown_Pittsburgh_May_2008.jpg: Allie Caufield derivative work: GrapedApe (tal, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lower Burrell, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Lower Burrell.
Lower Burrell pairs an A+ overall with homes cheaper than the Pennsylvania norm and is safe by national standards but not by Pennsylvania’s.
At 6.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 71% of Pennsylvania’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 86 to 16 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Lower Burrell’s property crime rate is 1.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Lower Burrell | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.2 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by Burrell SD. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Burrell HS, with 566 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bon Air El SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–3 | Grades K–3 | 447 | B |
| Burrell HSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 566 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
5.2 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Lower Burrell | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.7% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Burrell Lake Park | 0.8 mi | 37 |
| 2. Proposed Park - City of Lower Burrell (90 ac) | — | 79 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Most working residents leave Lower Burrell for work: only 8% work in town. Since 2013, Lower Burrell has lost 322 jobs, to 2,192 in 2023. The top destinations are Pittsburgh (18%), O'Hara Township (4%) and New Kensington (4%).
| Lower Burrell | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $85,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
82% of Lower Burrell adults had a checkup this year. Lower Burrell beats the Pennsylvania average on 6 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 5.5% of Lower Burrell adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Lower Burrell | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 79% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 35% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 5.5% | 7% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Lower Burrell | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9.7% | 14.5% |
| Fewer adults in frequent mental distress | 14.4% | 16.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.1% | 8.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Lower Burrell grades A+ overall with a typical home of about $212K, below the Pennsylvania typical value; only 34 of the 112 Pennsylvania towns graded A− or better can say that.
The median rent in Lower Burrell is $911 a month. The typical Lower Burrell home is worth about $212,000, up 3.5% in a year, 26% below the Pennsylvania typical home. 85% of households own their home in Lower Burrell.
| Lower Burrell | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 85% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $911 a month | $1,116 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Lower Burrell has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 21° and about 29 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 67% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 12 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lower Burrell.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
People 65 and older are 25% of residents (20% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 17% of residents (22% statewide). Lower Burrell has lost 2.5% of its people since 2020, down to 11,470 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 33% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 35% across Pennsylvania.
| Lower Burrell | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 46.8 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 19% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 29% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.6 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women. Among residents 45 to 54, 63% are men (PA 50%).
| Lower Burrell | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.9% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.8% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.1% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.5% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.4% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.7% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.7% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.5% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.7% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 15.7% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.4% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.7% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
4 within 15 miles of the center of Lower Burrell
About 4 of every 100 Lower Burrell residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
3 notable people were born in Lower Burrell.
City in Pennsylvania, US
Lower Burrell is a city in northern Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Allegheny River. Located approximately 18 miles northeast of downtown Pittsburgh, it is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 11,758 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Lower Burrell.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Burrell | #57 | A+ | A− | A | B+ | B+ |
| New Kensington | #970 | C− | A− | C− | C− | C− |
| Plum | #19 | A+ | B− | — | A | A |
| Upper Burrell Township | — | — | A− | A | B+ | B− |
| Allegheny Township | #219 | A | B+ | A | A− | B− |
| Natrona | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Harrison Township | #407 | B+ | A− | A− | C | B− |
| Tarentum | #778 | C+ | A | B | C | C− |
Upper Burrell Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Plum reports no FBI crime data of its own. Natrona isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Lower Burrell with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Lower Burrell grades A+ overall, better than 98% of U.S. towns and #57 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B+ for health, A for safety and B+ for schools.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
3 notable people were born here, including Pete Babando and Stefan Lundberg.
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