Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Ross Township grades A− overall, 285th among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Its public schools beat 90% of Pennsylvania towns on state tests and graduation and residents are healthier than 88% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $93K. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $269K, 3.5 years of the Pittsburgh metro’s $76K median household income. Ross Township’s property crime rate is 24.8 per 1,000 residents, against 5.7 in Pennsylvania’s towns and 9.9 across U.S. towns. Ross Township is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Bellevue Memorial Park, 57 acres with 3.6 miles of trail.
Where Ross Township beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,623 in 1870, 33,176 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1965 and 5 maps from 1906 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Ross Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Ross Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw6 mi Stadium & arenaAcrisure Stadium
6 mi LandmarkFort Duquesne
6 mi Stadium & arenaPNC Park
6 mi Stadium & arenaPPG Paints Arena
13 mi Theme parkKennywood
6 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 · 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 Ross 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 Ross Township.
Ross Township trades workers with Pittsburgh and other neighbors and is safe by national standards but not by Pennsylvania’s; it also has a long record of flood insurance claims.
13 miles of trail in 19 parks and preserves. Ross Township’s trail density is 0.9 miles per square mile.
| Ross Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.8% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bellevue Memorial Park | 3.6 mi | 57 |
| 2. Short Line Hollow - Ross Twp | 0.7 mi | 31 |
| 3. Evergreen Community Park | 0.7 mi | 23 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by North Hills SD. Three of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Hills MSLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,127 | B+ |
| North Hills HSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,443 | A |
| Ross El SchTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 498 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Pennsylvania is tooth loss: 9% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 14.5% statewide.
20% of Ross Township adults binge drink. Ross Township beats the Pennsylvania average on 15 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 14% of Ross Township adults report frequent mental distress.
| Ross Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 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 | Ross Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9% | 14.5% |
| Fewer adults in fair or poor health | 14.9% | 18.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
169 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 25 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 90% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 169 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Ross Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 26.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 84% of Pennsylvania’s graded towns. Reported crimes rose from 643 to 829 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Ross Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 21° and about 44 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Ross Township has about as many jobs (14,131) as working residents, but only 1,153 people both live and work here. Jobs based here fell from 20,646 in 2013 to 14,131.
Most working residents leave Ross Township for work: only 7% work in town. 25% of workers work from home in Ross Township. Since 2013, Ross Township has lost 6,515 jobs, to 14,131 in 2023.
| Ross Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 25% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $93,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 6.7% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
15 within 15 miles of the center of Ross Township
About 4 of every 100 Ross Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
Township in Pennsylvania, US
Ross Township is a township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is adjacent to the northern border of Pittsburgh. The population of the township was 33,176 at the 2020 census. While most of the township is residential, a retail corridor is located along McKnight Road along with business districts on U.S. Route 19 and Babcock Boulevard. Ross Township, along with the nearby borough of West View, comprises part of the North Hills School District, and both participate in the multi-municipality Northland Public Library.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Ross Township.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ross Township | #285 | A− | C | C | A | A |
| Pittsburgh | #928 | C− | B− | D | C | B+ |
| Bellevue | #459 | B+ | B− | B− | B− | A− |
| Reserve Township | #109 | A+ | B | A | A− | B− |
| Shaler Township | #55 | A+ | C+ | A | A− | A− |
| McCandless Township | #20 | A+ | C− | A− | A+ | A |
| Ohio Township | #88 | A+ | D | A | A+ | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Ross Township grades A− overall, better than 84% of U.S. towns and #285 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades A for health, C for safety and A for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
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