Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For a city of 307,632, Pittsburgh does unevenly: it grades C−, 928th of 1032 graded towns in Pennsylvania. It is among the most walkable places in the country. The trade-off: its crime rate is higher than 86% of U.S. towns, with 1,449 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 100% of U.S. towns, with 196 places on the National Register. 55% of working residents work locally in Pittsburgh, above both the Pennsylvania town median (6.3%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Forks of the Ohio and Smithfield Street Bridge. On the outdoors, just 113 of Pennsylvania’s 1,751 towns do better.
Where Pittsburgh beats most towns.
Forks of the Ohio| College | Students |
|---|---|
| University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | 33,505 |
| Carnegie Mellon University | 15,082 |
| Community College of Allegheny County | 8,553 |
Forks of the Ohio is one of 5 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier. Its 196 National Register listings are more than in any other Pennsylvania town with a listing.
Census counts: 1,565 in 1800, a peak of 676,806 in 1950, 302,971 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1798 and 4 maps from 1904 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Pittsburgh is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Pittsburgh. Close and well known come first.
Big drawin town Stadium & arenaAcrisure Stadium
in town LandmarkFort Duquesne
in town Stadium & arenaPNC Park
in town Stadium & arenaPPG Paints Arena
7 mi Theme parkKennywood
in town 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 · PPG Paints Arena: Jleedev, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kennywood: Ski2007 of English Wikipedia, Public domain · 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 Pittsburgh, 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 Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh draws workers from Ross Township and beyond, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Pennsylvania (mostly inland flooding) and reports violent crime at about twice the Pennsylvania rate.
118 miles of trail in 140 parks and preserves. The trail density in Pittsburgh is 2.0 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Hays Woods Park, 603 acres with 10.5 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Frick Park | 22.5 mi | 543 |
| 2. Riverview Park | 11.6 mi | 253 |
| 3. Hays Woods Park | 10.5 mi | 603 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Pittsburgh SD. Three of its 107 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Colfax K-8Largest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 789 | B+ |
| Pittsburgh Allderdice HSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,386 | B− |
| Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy 6-12Top results in townGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 618 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
282,704 jobs are based in Pittsburgh, 2.3 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
20% of residents live below the poverty line in Pittsburgh. The top destinations are Ross Township (2%), Robinson Township (2%) and Monroeville (1%). 22% of workers work from home in Pittsburgh.
| Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 20% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 22% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $66,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Violent crime runs at 4.7 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Pennsylvania rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D. Each of the 5 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Ross Township (C) to Reserve Township (A).
Pittsburgh’s violent crime rate is 4.7 per 1,000 residents. Pittsburgh reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 86% report less. Pittsburgh’s property crime rate is 23.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.7 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 23.3 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 10,055 U.S. towns with household incomes like Pittsburgh’s, it is healthier than 88%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Pittsburgh beats the Pennsylvania average on 8 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 20% of Pittsburgh adults binge drink.
| Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 34% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 79% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 35% | 35% |
| What stands out | Pittsburgh | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.5% | 8.8% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.8% | 7.4% |
| More uninsured adults | 7% | 5.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Pittsburgh has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 22° and about 44 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Crafton is next at $209K.
The typical Pittsburgh home is worth about $235,000, down 0.9% in a year, 18% below the Pennsylvania typical home.
| Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 48% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,261 a month | $1,114 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 48% | 44% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 88% of Pennsylvania towns, with expected losses of about $399 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on. 447 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 53 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1978, 447 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Pittsburgh.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
15 within 15 miles of the center of Pittsburgh
College town 17 of every 100 Pittsburgh residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
10 colleges in town.
196 places in Pittsburgh on the National Register of Historic Places.
23 notable people were born in Pittsburgh.
Second-most populous city in Pennsylvania, U.S.
Pittsburgh ( PITS-burg) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located in southwestern Pennsylvania where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio River, it had a population of 302,971 at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia. The Pittsburgh metropolitan area has over 2.43 million people, making it the largest in the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 28th-largest in the U.S. The greater Pittsburgh–Weirton–Steubenville combined statistical area includes parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Pittsburgh is known as "the Steel City" for its dominant …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Pittsburgh.
All 5 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C−; Crafton (B−) is closest.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh | #928 | C− | B− | D | C | B+ |
| Baldwin | #82 | A+ | B− | A− | B+ | B+ |
| Penn Hills | — | — | — | — | C− | — |
| Ross Township | #285 | A− | C | C | A | A |
| Green Tree | #47 | A+ | C | A | B+ | A |
| Baldwin Township | — | — | B | — | B+ | A− |
| Reserve Township | #109 | A+ | B | A | A− | B− |
| Crafton | #652 | B− | C+ | C+ | C+ | A− |
Baldwin Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Penn Hills and Baldwin Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Penn Hills isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Pittsburgh with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Pittsburgh grades C− overall, better than 24% of U.S. towns and #928 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B+ for health, D for safety and C for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 3.1 years of the area's median household income ($75,762 across the Pittsburgh, PA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
23 notable people were born here, including Andy Warhol and Gene Kelly.
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