Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Scottdale gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $183K for a typical one, or 2.4 years of the Pittsburgh metro’s $76K median household income. It grades B− overall, 685th among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $55K, and 15% of residents live below the poverty line. Only 134 of Pennsylvania’s 1,717 towns score higher on civic life. Scottdale has 2 places on the National Register. Scottdale’s median rent is $689 a month, below both Pennsylvania’s towns ($1,116 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month).
Where Scottdale beats most towns.
Scottdale ArmoryEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Scottdale is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,275 in 1880, a peak of 6,714 in 1930, 4,430 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1905 and 4 maps from 1902 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Scottdale, 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 Scottdale.
Scottdale is healthier than towns with similar incomes and is safe by national standards but not by Pennsylvania’s; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Pennsylvania (mostly inland flooding).
At 2.4 years of the Pittsburgh metro’s $76K median household income, the typical home (about $183K) costs less against local pay than in 83% of Pennsylvania towns; that ratio is one input to its A+ for cost of living. Values fell 2.5% in the past year while the Pennsylvania typical home rose 2.2%.
65% of Scottdale households own their home. The typical Scottdale home is worth about $183,000, 36% below the Pennsylvania typical home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by Southmoreland SD. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southmoreland El SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades 2–5 | Grades 2–5 | 548 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Scottdale has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 21° and about 24 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 24.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 82% of Pennsylvania’s graded towns.
The violent crime rate in Scottdale is 2.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Scottdale | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 2.8 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.7 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 14.6 per 1,000 residents | 6.7 | 11.5 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
Scottdale has about as many jobs (1,678) as working residents, but only 121 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Scottdale for work: only 6% work in town. Since 2013, Scottdale has added 280 jobs, to 1,678 in 2023. 7.8% of workers work from home in Scottdale.
| Scottdale | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $55,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.8% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 88% of Pennsylvania towns, with expected losses of about $378 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
Scottdale’s FEMA risk score is 64 of 100. Since 1978, 27 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Scottdale.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 7,542 U.S. towns with household incomes like Scottdale’s, it is healthier than 70%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Scottdale beats the Pennsylvania average on 1 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 8.
| Scottdale | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 38% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 34% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Scottdale | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 82.4% | 79.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 10% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.2 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Kendi Park, at 21 acres.
| Scottdale | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kendi Park | — | 21 |
| 2. Loucks Park | 0.1 mi | 4 |
| 3. Garfield Park | 0.1 mi | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Scottdale. Close and well known come first.
Big draw15 mi MuseumFallingwater
Big draw36 mi National MemorialFlight 93 National Memorial286K visitors a year
Big draw33 mi Stadium & arenaAcrisure Stadium
24 mi Theme parkKennywood
32 mi LandmarkFort Duquesne
32 mi Stadium & arenaPNC ParkFallingwater: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Flight 93 National Memorial: James Steakley, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Acrisure 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
4 within 15 miles of the center of Scottdale
About 7 of every 100 Scottdale residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Pennsylvania.
2 places in Scottdale on the National Register of Historic Places.
13 notable people were born in Scottdale.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Scottdale is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, 32 miles (51 km) southeast of Pittsburgh. Early in the 20th century, Scottdale was the center of the Frick coke interests. It had steel and iron pipe mills, brass and silver works, a casket factory, a large milk-pasteurizing plant, and machine shops; all of the aforementioned are presently defunct. Scottdale is notable for its economic decline from a formerly prosperous coke-town into an archetypal Rust Belt town. Duraloy Technologies, "a supplier of specialty high alloy, centrifugal and static cast components and assemblies" is the last remnant of Scottdale's steel related prosperity. In 1900, 4,261 people lived in…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Scottdale.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scottdale | #685 | B− | A+ | C+ | B | C+ |
| East Huntingdon Township | #404 | B+ | A | — | B | B− |
| Upper Tyrone Township | — | — | A+ | — | B | C+ |
| Everson | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Upper Tyrone Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. East Huntingdon Township and Upper Tyrone Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Everson isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Scottdale with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Scottdale grades B− overall, better than 51% of U.S. towns and #685 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades C+ for health, C+ for safety and B for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a C−.
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+.
13 notable people were born here, including Ira S. Webb and Johnny Arthur.
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