Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
West Pittston is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C+ overall, ranked 780th of 1032 in Pennsylvania, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $64K. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: homes are expensive, about $215K for a typical one and 3.3 times the Scranton metro’s $65K median household income. West Pittston’s typical journey to work is 17 minutes, where Pennsylvania’s towns sit at 26 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. West Pittston is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns.
Where West Pittston beats most towns.
Where West Pittston’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 West Pittston is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 599 in 1860, a peak of 7,943 in 1940, 4,652 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1892 and 5 maps from 1893 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in West Pittston, 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 West Pittston.
West Pittston is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has home values climbing faster than Pennsylvania’s, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Pennsylvania (mostly inland flooding).
Jobs based here fell from 971 in 2013 to 769. The average commute for its 2,167 working residents takes 17.1 minutes, against 26.3 across Pennsylvania.
Most people who work leave West Pittston to do it: just 4% work in town. Jobs here fell by 202 from 2013 to 2023, to 769. In West Pittston, 13% of residents live below the poverty line. The median commute is under 7 miles.
| West Pittston | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $64,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 9.9% | 12% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.2% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its one school is below. The public schools here belong to Wyoming Area SD. West Pittston’s only public school teaches 444 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wyoming Area Intermediate CtrLargest public middle schoolGrades 4–6 | Grades 4–6 | 444 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 94% of Pennsylvania towns, with expected losses of about $409 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on. 438 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 70 properties have flooded more than once.
FEMA puts 84% of West Pittston’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 7% to cold waves. In West Pittston, the risk rating from FEMA is 74 of 100. Paid flood insurance claims here since 1979: 438.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Home values rose 42% in five years, to about $215K, against 23% across Pennsylvania.
The typical West Pittston home is worth about $215,000, up 3.5% in a year, 25% below the Pennsylvania typical home. Among households here, 53% own their home. The town’s going rate for rent comes in at $968 a month.
| West Pittston | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 53% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $968 a month | $1,116 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The range runs from 18° on a January night to 85° on a July afternoon, with about 45 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 9,678 U.S. towns with household incomes like West Pittston’s, it is healthier than 63%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
For adults in West Pittston, the share who binge drink is 18%. On the CDC’s 26 measures, West Pittston is ahead of Pennsylvania on 1 and behind on 3.
| West Pittston | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 16% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 18% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 35% | 35% |
| What stands out | West Pittston | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9.7% | 14.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.5% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Four-year graduates: 38% of adults 25 and older here, 35% across Pennsylvania. Age groups here sit within 4 points of the Pennsylvania average. The share of residents in West Pittston who are 65 or older: 22%.
| West Pittston | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 29% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 21% | 18% |
| Median age | 41.9 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 20% | 20% | 22% |
54% women, 46% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.4 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| West Pittston | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.3% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.8% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.3% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.8% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.6% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.5% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 7.7% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16.6% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.4% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.7% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.5% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.3% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.8% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.7% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,700, single groups can be off by several points
One park or preserve covers 1 acres in West Pittston.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. William T. Morris Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around West Pittston. Close and well known come first.
8 mi National Historic SiteSteamtown National Historic Site61K visitors a year
30 mi LakeLake Wallenpaupack
24 mi State parkRicketts Glen State Park5 mi Theme parkRocky Glen Park
21 mi State parkHickory Run State Park
7 mi Ski areaMontage Mountain Ski Area25 runs · 998 ft verticalSteamtown National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Lake Wallenpaupack: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ricketts Glen State Park: en:User:Msitler, Public domain · Hickory Run State Park: Mtruch, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Montage Mountain Ski Area: Montage Mountain Resorts, CC BY-SA 4.0
12 within 15 miles of the center of West Pittston
About 4 of every 100 West Pittston residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
3 notable people were born in West Pittston.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
West Pittston is a borough in the Greater Pittston area of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on the Susquehanna River (opposite of Pittston City). In 2020, the population was 4,644. The town once produced mine screens, glass, crackers, and many other goods. West Pittston rose to national attention in September 2011, when catastrophic flooding (caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee) left much of the borough under water.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with West Pittston.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Pittston | #780 | C+ | C+ | — | B− | C+ |
| Exeter | #762 | C+ | C+ | — | B− | B |
| Pittston | #772 | C+ | B | A | C+ | C− |
West Pittston and Exeter report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare West Pittston with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
West Pittston grades C+ overall, better than 41% of U.S. towns and #780 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades C+ for health and B− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
3 notable people were born here, including Marion Lorne and Mary Ann Love.
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