Best Places To Buy A Home In Pgh: See How NA Towns Fared In New Study

PITTSBURGH, PA — A week after four Pittsburgh communities ranked within its top 100 suburban areas nationwide,locally-based data analysis company Niche has released its rankings of the best places to buy a home in Western Pennsylvania.

The Best Places to Buy a House ranking provides a comprehensive assessment of the housing and
community of an area. This grade takes into account key factors of a location’s housing market, including home values, taxes, crime rates, and quality of local schools, in an attempt to measure the quality and stability of an area’s real estate market.

To determine the rankings, Niche assessed a community's:

• Ratio of the median home value to the median family income.

• Public schools quality.

• The median monthly housing costs for homeowners.

• Cost of Living Grade.

• Percentage of residents who have received a bachelor’s degree or higher.

• The median home value for the area.

• Crime & Safety Grade, based on violent and property crime rates.

• The percent of residents between the ages of 20 and 44 who moved into the area within the last year.

• The percent of people who own the property in which they reside.

• Percentage of residents between the ages of 25 and 44.

After crunching those numbers, Niche decided the following were the best Pittsburgh-area communities in which to purchase a house. (Patch omitted several from the Niche list because they are unincorporated census-designated places and not official municipalities).

1. McMurray, Washington County.

2. Level Green, Westmoreland County.

3. Bell Acres, Allegheny County.

4. Aspinwall, Allegheny County.

5. Indiana Township, Allegheny County.

6. Chippewa, Beaver County.

7. Franklin Park, Allegheny County.

8. Upper St. Clair, Allegheny County.

9. Manor, Westmoreland County.

10. Fox Chapel, Allegheny County.

11. Bradford Woods, Allegheny County.

12. Mt. Lebanon, Allegheny County.

13. Point Breeze, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County.

14. Murrysville, Westmoreland County.

15. Amwell, Washington County.