Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Mercer Township’s best subject grades are an A for schools and an A− for cost of living. Mercer Township’s average trip to work is 20 minutes, against 26 minutes in Pennsylvania’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Among 1,036 Pennsylvania towns, just one has a lower share of working residents who work in town than Mercer Township. Only 87 of Pennsylvania’s 1,751 towns score lower on the outdoors. Mercer Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Mercer Township beats most towns.
Census counts: 506 in 1820, a peak of 2,800 in 1960, 1,982 in 2020. The archive holds 55 old photos and papers going back to 1905 and 5 maps from 1913 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Mercer Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Mercer Township, 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 Mercer Township.
Since 2013, Mercer Township has lost 26 jobs, to 109 in 2023. Just over a tenth of Mercer Township residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Pittsburgh (13%), Slippery Rock Township (8%) and Butler Township (5%).
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Summer afternoons peak near 82° in July, and January nights bottom out around 18°; snowfall runs to about 35 inches a winter. Mercer Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Among adults in Mercer Township, 18% smoke cigarettes and 40% sleep under 7 hours. In Mercer Township, nearly a fifth of adults report frequent mental distress.
| Mercer Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 38% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 24% | 23% |
| What stands out | Mercer Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 7.5% | 5.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.1% | 7.7% |
| More adults in frequent mental distress | 19.1% | 16.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Flood insurance has paid out on 7 claims in Mercer Township since 2005. On expected storm and flood damage, Mercer Township sits below 62% of U.S. communities. FEMA puts 87% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2.3 miles of trail. Mercer Township’s density of trails comes in at 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Mercer Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.8% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
2 within 15 miles of the center of Mercer Township
About 2 of every 100 Mercer Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Mercer is a borough in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The population was 1,982 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Hermitage micropolitan area. The community was named after Brigadier General Hugh Mercer. The Mercer County Court House and Christiana Lindsey House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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−.