Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Sharpsburg gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $133K for a typical one, or 1.8 years of the Pittsburgh metro’s $76K median household income. It grades A− overall, 355th of 1032 graded towns in Pennsylvania. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 92% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. On the plus side, its public schools are among the best in Pennsylvania. Sharpsburg’s trail density is 2.5 miles per square mile, above both the Pennsylvania town median (0.4) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Few places in the country are easier to get around without a car.
Where Sharpsburg beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Watson Institut Social CTR for Academic Achievemnt | 2–12 | 85 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Sharpsburg is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for hazard risk (better than 5%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,229 in 1850, a peak of 8,921 in 1920, 3,187 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1862 and 4 maps from 1904 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sharpsburg. Close and well known come first.
Big draw6 mi Stadium & arenaAcrisure Stadium
6 mi LandmarkFort Duquesne
6 mi Stadium & arenaPNC Park
8 mi Theme parkKennywood
5 mi Stadium & arenaPPG Paints Arena
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 · 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
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sharpsburg, 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 Sharpsburg.
Sharpsburg pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Pennsylvania norm and pairs an A+ for schools with modest home prices, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Pennsylvania (mostly inland flooding).
Sharpsburg sits below Pennsylvania’s towns (8.2%) and close to U.S. towns (4.3%) on this measure. 1.5 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. James Sharp Landing | 0.1 mi | 2 |
| 2. Kennedy Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A+ for schools comes with a B for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $133K. Its A+ ranks #1 of the 1,037 Pennsylvania towns we grade for schools.
Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watson Institut Social CTR for Academic Achievemnt PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 2–12 | Grades 2–12 | 85 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Sharpsburg grades A− overall with a typical home of about $133K, below the Pennsylvania typical value; only 34 of the 112 Pennsylvania towns graded A− or better can say that. At 1.8 years of the Pittsburgh metro’s $76K median household income, the typical home (about $133K) costs less against local pay than in 93% of Pennsylvania towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living.
48% of Sharpsburg households own their home. Typical home values fell 10% in the year to September 2026. The median rent in Sharpsburg is $991 a month.
| Sharpsburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 48% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $991 a month | $1,116 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 100% of Pennsylvania towns, with expected losses of about $1,156 per resident a year; that rating is what its D− for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1982, 78 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sharpsburg. Among 1,037 Pennsylvania towns, just 3 have a higher FEMA risk score than Sharpsburg.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Sharpsburg has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 22° and about 25 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Sharpsburg for work: only 6% work in town. 17% of residents live below the poverty line in Sharpsburg. Jobs based in Sharpsburg fell to 2,084 in 2023, 291 fewer than in 2013.
| Sharpsburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $59,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.5% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Violent crime is rare: 0 reported in 2025, 0 per 1,000 residents.
Sharpsburg’s property crime rate is 14.2 per 1,000 residents. Pennsylvania has less reported crime than most states, so among its own towns Sharpsburg sits closer to the middle. Sharpsburg’s violent crime rate is 0 per 1,000 residents.
| Sharpsburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14.2 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 8,725 U.S. towns with household incomes like Sharpsburg’s, it is healthier than 66%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Sharpsburg beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 5.
| Sharpsburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Sharpsburg | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 23.7% | 14.5% |
| More smokers | 19.2% | 15.8% |
| More adults in frequent physical distress | 15% | 13.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Only 47.6% of households own their home, against 69.3% across Pennsylvania.
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Pennsylvania average. Sharpsburg has lost 5% of its people since 2020, down to 2,990 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 34% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 35% across Pennsylvania.
| Sharpsburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 34% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 40.4 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 21% | 18% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±6.9 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Sharpsburg | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.7% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.9% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 17.2% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.5% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.5% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.3% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.8% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.1% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.2% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.4% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.8% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.1% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.1% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.4% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,000, single groups can be off by several points
15 within 15 miles of the center of Sharpsburg
About 7 of every 100 Sharpsburg residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Pennsylvania.
8 notable people were born in Sharpsburg.
Borough in Pennsylvania, United States
Sharpsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, 5 miles (8 km) northeast of downtown Pittsburgh, along the Allegheny River. In 1900, nearly 7,000 people lived here; in 1920, the population peaked at just over 8,900 people. The population was 3,187 at the 2020 census. In the past, it had a rolling mill, foundries, machine shops, and manufacturers of varnish, brick, glass, lumber products, wire, hair, felt, and lubricating oil. In January 1869, the H. J. Heinz Company was founded in Sharpsburg as Heinz Noble & Company to manufacture and sell bricks.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Sharpsburg.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharpsburg | #355 | A− | B | B | A+ | C+ |
| O'Hara Township | #60 | A+ | D | A+ | A+ | A |
| Etna | #313 | A− | A− | A− | A− | C |
| Pittsburgh | #928 | C− | B− | D | C | B+ |
| Aspinwall | #135 | A | D | — | A+ | A+ |
| Shaler Township | #55 | A+ | C+ | A | A− | A− |
Aspinwall reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Sharpsburg with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Sharpsburg grades A− overall, better than 79% of U.S. towns and #355 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades C+ for health, B for safety and A+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes, by national standards. Pennsylvania has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Sharpsburg sits nearer the middle.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
8 notable people were born here, including Marie Taylor and Lawrence Saint.
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