Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 26,225, settled in 1788.
Few places in the country grade higher. Plum earns an A+, 19th among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns. The median household earns $99K, it is healthier than 89% of U.S. towns, and its schools outperform 87% of the state's. Its lowest mark, a B−, is in cost of living. Plum’s trail density is 1.4 miles per square mile, against 0.4 in Pennsylvania’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Only 119 of Pennsylvania’s 1,751 towns score higher on hazard risk. Boyce Park, at 921 acres with 25.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Plum beats most towns.
Where Plum’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 Plum is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Oakmont Country Club Historic District is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 10,241 in 1960, 27,144 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1903 and 2 maps from 1953 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Plum. Close and well known come first.
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaAcrisure Stadium
10 mi Theme parkKennywood
14 mi LandmarkFort Duquesne
14 mi Stadium & arenaPNC Park
13 mi Stadium & arenaPPG Paints Arena
14 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 Plum, 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 Plum.
Plum has less tooth loss than most of Pennsylvania and has an unusually large share working from home.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Boyce Park | 25.6 mi | 921 |
| 2. Barking Slopes | 2.5 mi | 162 |
| 3. Plum Municipal Ball Fields | 0.3 mi | 23 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Plum Borough SD. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pivik El SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 740 | A− |
| Plum SHSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,220 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Pennsylvania is tooth loss: 7.5% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 14.5% statewide.
21% of Plum adults binge drink, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (18%) and U.S. towns (16%). 14% of Plum adults report frequent mental distress. Plum beats the Pennsylvania average on 14 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Plum | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 35% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Plum | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.5% | 14.5% |
| Fewer adults in fair or poor health | 14.3% | 18.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.2% | 8.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 94% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 44 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Plum.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
23.7% of workers work from home, against 15.6% across Pennsylvania.
Most working residents leave Plum for work: only 9% work in town. 24% of workers work from home in Plum. Jobs based in Plum fell to 6,143 in 2023, 945 fewer than in 2013.
| Plum | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 24% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 3.6% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $99,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Plum has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 21° and about 29 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (22% statewide). Plum has lost 3.4% of its people since 2020, down to 26,225 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 45% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 35% across Pennsylvania.
| Plum | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 45% | 29% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 21% | 18% |
| Median age | 44.4 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 21% | 20% | 22% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.9 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women. Median age: women 47.6, men 42.6.
| Plum | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.4% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.7% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.6% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.8% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.3% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.3% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.1% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.1% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.7% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.2% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.1% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 12.9% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.8% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 27.8% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.2% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Plum's reported crime rate is well below Pennsylvania's. The property crime rate in Plum is 1.5 per 1,000 residents. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Plum | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 1.5 per 1,000 residents | 6.8 | 11.5 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.7 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
14 within 15 miles of the center of Plum
About 4 of every 100 Plum residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
2 places in Plum on the National Register of Historic Places.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Plum is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 27,144 at the 2020 census. A suburb of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, it is located northeast of the city in what is commonly referred to as the East Hills suburbs. Plum is often referred to as "Plum Boro" or more correctly "Plum Borough" by locals to distinguish it from its previous status as a township. It was founded as Plum Township in 1788 and was reorganized as a borough in 1956. The borough took its name from nearby Plum Creek.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Plum.
At #19 in PA, it grades higher overall than all 5 graded towns on its borders; Murrysville (A+) comes closest. Springdale next door grades lower for schools (C+ to Plum’s A) and higher for cost of living (A− to B−).
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plum | #19 | A+ | B− | — | A | A |
| Penn Hills | — | — | — | — | C− | — |
| Monroeville | #636 | B | C+ | C | B− | A− |
| Lower Burrell | #57 | A+ | A− | A | B+ | B+ |
| Oakmont | #174 | A | C− | B+ | A | A |
| Upper Burrell Township | — | — | A− | A | B+ | B− |
| Murrysville | #41 | A+ | C− | A+ | A+ | A |
| Springdale | #182 | A | A− | B+ | C+ | B+ |
Upper Burrell Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Plum and Penn Hills report no FBI crime data of their own. Penn Hills isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Plum with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Plum grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #19 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades A for health and A for schools.
The typical home is worth about $228,000, 21% below the Pennsylvania typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
.jpg){kind=link}
