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Place dossier plate
SheetPA-PITTSBURGH-PA · Pittsburgh, PA 303,620 pop · income 42nd pct · 394 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Pittsburgh
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Pittsburgh on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Erie · lowest
43,397
Erie · lowest
43,397 median HH income
33.5% of the leader · rank #1
Byron · near
64,135
Byron · near
64,135 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #2
Jacksonville · near
64,135
Jacksonville · near
64,135 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #3
Pittsburgh · this city
64,137
Pittsburgh · this city
64,137 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #4
Rainsville · near
64,140
Rainsville · near
64,140 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #5
Canton · near
64,141
Canton · near
64,141 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #6
Irvine · highest
129,647
Irvine · highest
129,647 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Pittsburgh on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 303,620.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Pittsburgh - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Pittsburgh lands in the 42nd percentile for household income and the 19th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
42nd
percentile, household income
41st
percentile, home value
54th
percentile, median rent
19th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Pittsburgh, PA
Pennsylvania's Pittsburgh is a mid-sized U.S. city, with 303,620 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $64,137 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 12.2%. Typical homes in Pittsburgh are valued around $193,200, and the median resident age is 33.5 years. 47.8% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 60.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 1,664 residential building permits were authorized in Pittsburgh (Building Boom), up 152% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2707.3 crimes per 100,000 residents, near the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Pittsburgh's yearly average temperature at 51.8°F with 39.6 inches of precipitation per year and 44.1 inches of snowfall.
Pennsylvania tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Pennsylvania at 97.6 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Near Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,225 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Pennsylvania run around $260, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. The average commute for Pittsburgh workers runs 18.4 minutes, with 48.2% driving alone and 20.4% working from home. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 67.4 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Pittsburgh's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from within-city variation to reported crime to population change to schools and households to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Pittsburgh, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, annual population history, local building permits, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Within-city variation
What can 394 Census tracts reveal inside Pittsburgh?
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 394 Census tracts to this city.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Pittsburgh?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2707.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 19% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Is Pittsburgh growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +4,773 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1,664 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Pittsburgh?
Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are Allentown (125,320 residents, $53,403 income); Reading (94,836 residents, $45,599 income); Erie (94,156 residents, $43,397 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Newark, NJ (307,188 residents); St. Paul, MN (307,762 residents); Irvine, CA (308,160 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Pittsburgh?
The NCES join finds 145 public schools within the city match. 47.8% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Matched public schools
145
Bachelor's degree+
47.8%
Poverty estimate
12.2%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What physical conditions frame life in Pittsburgh?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 51.8°F, with 39.6 inches of precipitation and 44.1 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Pennsylvania is 67.4 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
Mean temperature
51.8°F
Annual precipitation
39.6 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
67.4
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What does the journey to work look like in Pittsburgh?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 48.2%. The reported mean trip to work is 18.4 minutes.
Public transit
12.4%
Work from home
20.4%
Drive alone
48.2%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 156,351 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Pittsburgh?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 12.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
Household income
$64,137
Home value
$193,200
Value / income
3.0×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 12.2% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
D
City profile score · Pittsburgh, PA
43/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share A-
47.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living C-
97.6 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income D
$64,137
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
12.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
427 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Pittsburgh profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 82/100 (A-) · 47.8%
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
Household income: 41/100 (D) · $64,137
Poverty rate: 31/100 (F) · 12.2%
Violent crime: 20/100 (F) · 427 /100k
Where Pittsburgh sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Pittsburgh's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Pittsburgh highlighted among 12 peers.Read the chart values
Pittsburgh, PA (this city): home $193,200, crime 2,707/100k
Newark, NJ : home $337,800, crime 2,539/100k
St. Paul, MN : home $280,300, crime 3,452/100k
Irvine, CA : home $1,115,400, crime 1,474/100k
Greensboro, NC : home $221,300, crime 4,307/100k
Cincinnati, OH : home $215,300, crime 4,675/100k
Santa Ana, CA : home $657,800, crime 2,195/100k
Allentown, PA : home $188,900, crime 1,841/100k
Reading, PA : home $109,800, crime 1,772/100k
Erie, PA : home $108,200, crime 2,305/100k
Bethlehem, PA : home $236,500, crime 1,575/100k
Scranton, PA : home $141,700, crime 1,627/100k
How does Pittsburgh compare to other US cities?
Here's how Pittsburgh stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income42% higher than other cities
Home value41% pricier than other cities
Median rent54% pricier than other cities
Safety19% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh ranks #372 of 402 Pennsylvania cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Pittsburgh against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Pennsylvania only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Pennsylvania-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Pittsburgh near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Pittsburgh ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Pittsburgh only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#973 of 1,765
45th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Home Value
#691 of 1,790
61st percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#438 of 1,856
76th percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#181 of 1,861
90th percentile in Pennsylvania
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Pennsylvania only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
42nd percentile nationally for median household income · 19th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Pittsburgh's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Pittsburgh's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Pittsburgh's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$193,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 59% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Pittsburgh's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#6,758 of 15,516
More affordable than 56% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#12 of 117
Large cities (200,000–999,999)
At 3.0×, Pittsburgh sits in the moderate band:
national rank #6,758 of 15,516 and #12 of 117large cities (200,000–999,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$64,137Pittsburgh, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Pittsburgh, PA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Pittsburgh, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)47.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)12.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
303,620
Median Income
$64,137
Median Home Value
$193,200
Median Age
33.5
Poverty Rate
12.2%
Labor force participation
60.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
47.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2707.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
427.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2280.1
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
51.8°F
Annual Precipitation
39.6"
Annual Snowfall
44.1"
Schools
Total Schools
145
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Pittsburgh's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
302,859 residents
2021
305,343 residents
2022
303,012 residents
2023
304,508 residents
2024
306,719 residents
2025
307,632 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
1,664
housing units authorized
Single-Family
229
detached homes
Multifamily
1,435
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
5.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
660
78
582
$77.1M
2020
620
167
453
$92.1M
2021
815
198
617
$119.5M
2022
2,028
115
1,913
$251.3M
2023
2,512
229
2,283
$265.2M
2024
1,664
229
1,435
$176.9M
Permit volume increased 152% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
18.4 minutes
Drive Alone
48.2%
Carpool
6.2%
Public Transit
12.4%
Walk
9.8%
Work from Home
20.4%
Other
3.0%
Based on 156,351 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Pennsylvania statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $260
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Pennsylvania at $260 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $52 ).
These are Pennsylvania statewide averages, not a meter reading for Pittsburgh. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Pennsylvania's BEA cost-of-living index is 97.6 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Pittsburgh is $1,225/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Pennsylvania statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 67.4 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Pennsylvania statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Pittsburgh sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Pittsburgh compares to similar-size Pennsylvania cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.