Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Monaca gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $220K, 2.9 years of the Pittsburgh metro’s $76K median household income. It grades A− overall, 318th among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. On civic life, just 159 of Pennsylvania’s 1,717 towns do worse. Monaca’s average trip to work is 32 minutes, where Pennsylvania’s towns sit at 26 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Monaca is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 68% of U.S. towns.
Where Monaca beats most towns.
Census counts: 325 in 1840, a peak of 8,394 in 1960, 5,625 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1900 and 4 maps from 1901 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Monaca is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Monaca, 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 Monaca.
Most working residents leave Monaca for work: only 5% work in town. Jobs based in Monaca fell to 1,015 in 2023, 164 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Pittsburgh (9%), Center Township (7%) and Moon Township (5%).
| Monaca | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 15% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $74,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.9% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by Central Valley SD. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Valley MSLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 504 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 2004, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Monaca.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Monaca grades A− overall with a typical home of about $220K, below the Pennsylvania typical value; only 34 of the 112 Pennsylvania towns graded A− or better can say that.
Monaca’s median rent is $768 a month. Typical home values rose 4.9% in the year to September 2026. 66% of Monaca households own their home.
| Monaca | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $768 a month | $1,116 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 66% | 78% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Monaca has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 21° and about 20 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Pennsylvania has less reported crime than most states, so among its own towns Monaca sits closer to the middle.
| Monaca | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 10.1 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Children under 18 are 26% of residents (21% statewide). Monaca has lost 3% of its people since 2020, down to 5,456 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. The median age in Monaca is 39 years.
| Monaca | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 26% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 39 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 26% | 29% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 18% | 21% | 18% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.4 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Monaca | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.2% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.6% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.4% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.6% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.2% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.7% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.2% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.4% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.8% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.5% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 36.4% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.2% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 14.5% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.9% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.6% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Monaca beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 19% of adults binge drink in Monaca.
| Monaca | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 35% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 24% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 16% | 14% |
| What stands out | Monaca | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with arthritis | 34.9% | 30.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.9% | 8.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. John A. Antoline Park | — | 9 |
| 2. Boat Launch Park | — | 4 |
| 3. Monaca Riverfront Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Monaca. Close and well known come first.
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaAcrisure Stadium
22 mi LandmarkFort Duquesne
22 mi Stadium & arenaPNC Park
30 mi Theme parkKennywood
23 mi Stadium & arenaPPG Paints Arena
22 mi LandmarkFort PittAcrisure Stadium: Fo2grfr, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fort Duquesne: Sébastien Paquin, CC BY-SA 3.0 · PNC Park: alpineinc, CC BY 2.0 · Kennywood: Ski2007 of English Wikipedia, Public domain · 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
5 within 15 miles of the center of Monaca
About 2 of every 100 Monaca residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
Where Monaca’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
7 notable people were born in Monaca.
Borough in Pennsylvania, United States
Monaca ( mi-NAK-ə) is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 5,625 as of the 2020 census. It is located 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Pittsburgh and is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. First incorporated in 1840 as Phillipsburg as the home of the New Philadelphia Society, its name was changed to Monaca in honor of the Oneida leader Monacatootha. Fire clay is found in large quantities in the vicinity, and there is a Stölzle Glass plant in the town.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Monaca.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monaca | #318 | A− | A | B | B | B− |
| Center Township | #315 | A− | B− | — | B | B |
| Freedom | — | — | A | — | B | D |
| East Rochester | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Rochester | #980 | C− | B+ | D | C | D− |
| Bridgewater | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Freedom has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Center Township and Freedom report no FBI crime data of their own. East Rochester and Bridgewater aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Monaca with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Monaca grades A− overall, better than 81% of U.S. towns and #318 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B− for health, B for safety and B for schools.
Yes, by national standards. Pennsylvania has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Monaca sits nearer the middle.
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.
7 notable people were born here, including Mildred Trotter and Bill Zopf.
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