With 127 suburban communities in Allegheny County as well as the popular bedroom communities of Murrysville and Cranberry and Peters townships, deciding which one is right for you can be daunting. To help you choose, we break it down by the numbers.
Low property taxes, excellent schools, safe neighborhoods and an expanding selection of new housing help account for the first-place finish of this sprawling suburb in Westmoreland County.
Short commutes, good housing priced right plus neighborhood amenities and safe streets, make Harrison Township the top Affordable Suburb in this year’s rankings.
Scenic Pittsburgh has picked up the mantle of a century-old fight atop Mount Washington as one of the many large and small beautification battles it fights.
Using data from the Pennsylvania State Police, this category ranks a two-year average of reported incidents of criminal homicide, sex-related offenses, robbery, assault, property offenses, and drug and alcohol-related crimes. For assault, property crimes and drug and alcohol crimes, numbers are converted to a ratio per 100,000 population so as not to penalize larger communities that have correspondingly more incidents.
Rankings are based on average reported commute time to work, as well as how many residents walk to their jobs. County crash statistics per mile of road give a measure of how safe local streets are. A bonus point is awarded to communities served by a T stop, and/or along the route of the Three Rivers Heritage or Montour trails.
Communities are graded by their public school district (private schools are not part of the rankings) according to students’ average math and verbal SAT scores, how many Advanced Placement courses are offered, the presence or absence of full-day kindergarten and the school tax millage.
Higher scores go to places with a larger share of adults holding college degrees, as well as suburbs with more children. This category also ranks political engagement, the number of residents moving into the suburb within the last year, how many acres are shaded by trees and the presence of a coffee shop.
Ratings in this category compare age of homes, how much the median sale price of a home has changed over five years, the property tax millage and the percent of home ownership verses rental units.
