Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Meadville earns a D, 981st of 1032 graded towns in Pennsylvania, mostly because of incomes and safety. The median household income is $43K, and 22% of residents live below the poverty line. Its police reported 93 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 77% of U.S. towns. One bright spot: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 93% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 96% of U.S. towns, with 7 places on the National Register. 32% of working residents work locally in Meadville, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (6.3%) and U.S. towns (8%). Meadville is home to Allegheny College. On history, just 133 of Pennsylvania’s 1,749 towns do better.
Where Meadville beats most towns.
Census counts: 457 in 1810, a peak of 18,972 in 1950, 13,050 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1885 and 5 maps from 1923 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Meadville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Meadville, 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 Meadville.
Meadville draws workers from West Mead Township and beyond and has fewer 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Pennsylvania rate.
7,651 jobs are based in Meadville, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 14.5 minutes, against 26.3 across Pennsylvania.
Meadville’s average trip to work is 15 minutes. Jobs based in Meadville fell to 7,651 in 2023, 1,245 fewer than in 2013. About one in 3 of Meadville’s working residents works in town.
| Meadville | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 15 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $43,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 10% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by Crawford Central SD.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meadville MSLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 340 | C |
| Meadville Area SHSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 708 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
3.8 miles of trail in 14 parks and preserves. The trail density in Meadville is 0.9 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Cussewago Island, at 31 acres.
| Meadville | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.6% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cora Clark Park | 1 mi | 24 |
| 2. Allegheny Park | 0.3 mi | 5 |
| 3. Cussewago Island | — | 31 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
34% of households own their home in Meadville. Typical home values rose 13% in the year to September 2026.
| Meadville | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 34% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $855 a month | $1,116 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Violent crime runs at 5.3 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Pennsylvania rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its C−. At 33.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 90% of Pennsylvania’s graded towns.
Meadville reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 77% report less.
| Meadville | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.4 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 3,425 U.S. towns with household incomes like Meadville’s, it is healthier than 77%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
Meadville beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 20% of Meadville adults report frequent mental distress.
| Meadville | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 24% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Meadville | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 21.3% | 14.5% |
| More uninsured adults | 8.3% | 5.8% |
| More smokers | 19.8% | 15.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Linesville 1 S weather station, 14 miles away, records that about 3 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 95% of U.S. towns.
Meadville has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 18° and about 64 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 66% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 42 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Meadville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Meadville
College town 17 of every 100 Meadville residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
7 places in Meadville on the National Register of Historic Places.
38 notable people were born in Meadville.
City in Pennsylvania, US
Meadville is a city in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The population was 13,050 at the 2020 census. The first permanent settlement in Northwestern Pennsylvania, Meadville is within 40 miles (64 km) of Erie and within 90 miles (140 km) of Pittsburgh. It is the principal city of the Meadville micropolitan area, as well as part of the larger Erie–Meadville combined statistical area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Meadville.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meadville | #981 | D | C+ | C− | C+ | C |
| West Mead Township | #427 | B+ | A− | A+ | C+ | C+ |
| Vernon Township | #746 | C+ | B− | — | C+ | C+ |
| Fredericksburg | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kerrtown | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Vernon Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Fredericksburg and Kerrtown aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Meadville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Meadville grades D overall, better than 15% of U.S. towns and #981 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades C for health, C− for safety and C+ for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
38 notable people were born here, including Sharon Stone and Charles Homer Haskins.
