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Big city living isn't for everyone--but at the same time, urban areas certainly have their perks.
There's the culture, the food, the arts, the food, the energy, and you know, the food. But there are drawbacks. There's traffic, expensive parking, expensive housing--pretty much, expensive everything, depending on which big city you're looking at.
But that's where the suburbs come in--they have all of the benefits of being near big cities, without actually having to be big cities.
Of course, not all suburbs of Pittsburgh are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado...
Here are the 10 best suburbs to live around Pittsburgh for 2021:
What's the best suburb of Pittsburgh? Aspinwall ranks as the best suburb of Pittsburgh for 2021 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Aspinwall, you're probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.
We'll tell you what makes each of these 10 Pittsburgh 'burbs better than the rest--but first, a bit about our methodology.
Note: This result may differ from our state wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a larger selection of suburbs.
Feel free to check out some more reading about Pennsylvania:
The 10 Best Pittsburgh Suburbs To Live For 2021
/10
Population: 2,724
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 4)
Median Income: $84,375
Unemployment Rate: 5.3%
Poverty Rate: 2.7%
More on Aspinwall: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Aspinwall is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Pittsburgh area. We'll tell you the good about "Awesome Aspinwall."
Everyone here is rich; families average $84,375 a year, which is the 7th highest in the Pittsburgh region. And only 5.34% are out of work. Homes average more than $286,400 each.
/10
Population: 3,040
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $80,547
Unemployment Rate: 3.9%
Poverty Rate: 5.0%
More on Edgewood: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Edgewood is the second best 'burb we looked at near Pittsburgh for 2021.
It ranks 10th for incomes in the area and only 1.38% of residents lack insurance, good for 6th best.
/10
Population: 2,766
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 2)
Median Income: $102,529
Unemployment Rate: 1.0%
Poverty Rate: 3.7%
More on Seven Fields: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Here in Seven Fields, it's really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you'll see in the Pittsburgh metro area.
The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.
But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in Seven Fields.
/10
Population: 5,121
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 3)
Median Income: $205,987
Unemployment Rate: 2.8%
Poverty Rate: 1.1%
More on Fox Chapel: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Fox Chapel ranks as the 4th best suburb of Pittsburgh for 2021.
You won't find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Fox Chapel and the schools are some of the best around.
/10
Population: 8,373
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 7)
Median Income: $64,688
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 5.3%
More on Dormont: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Coming in as the fifth best is Dormont.
Dormont gets kudos for having the 22nd most expensive homes in the Pittsburgh area, where houses sell for an average of $147,500. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
/10
Population: 3,829
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 3)
Median Income: $63,475
Unemployment Rate: 2.8%
Poverty Rate: 6.1%
More on Sewickley: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Sewickley is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here's why.
Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 2.78% which is 14th best in the area.
According to online reports, Sewickley is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Pittsburgh area, meaning you need to get in soon.
/10
Population: 11,200
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 1)
Median Income: $93,140
Unemployment Rate: 2.3%
Poverty Rate: 3.4%
More on Jefferson Hills: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Jefferson Hills.
Jefferson Hills schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.
And, it's only 10.0 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
/10
Population: 14,589
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 4)
Median Income: $134,688
Unemployment Rate: 3.9%
Poverty Rate: 3.6%
More on Franklin Park: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Franklin Park is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.
A solid 1.82% of people lack insurance, good for 10th in the area.
/10
Population: 6,480
Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 5)
Median Income: $65,833
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%
Poverty Rate: 4.4%
More on Oakmont: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Is 'Everything Better In Oakmont?'
Almost.
It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it's really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.
/10
Population: 6,377
Rank Last Year: 9 (Down 1)
Median Income: $71,709
Unemployment Rate: 3.4%
Poverty Rate: 4.6%
More on Forest Hills: Real Estate | Data | Photos
And rounding out the top ten for 2021 is Forest Hills.
This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It's far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.
How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Pittsburgh for 2021
Figuring out the best suburbs around Pittsburgh was pretty simple; we just needed to list several things that people like, and then find out which cities have the most of those things.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:
- Low unemployment rate
- High Median household incomes
- Population density (lots of things to do)
- High home values
- A lot of college educated people
- Low poverty
- High rate of insured families
Then we used the newest American Community Survey data for 2015-2019 to research each suburb.
FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Pittsburgh.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 95 suburbs to evaluate around Pittsburgh.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 95 in each category, where 1 was the "best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index the "Best Suburb near Pittsburgh." We're lookin' at you, Aspinwall. You can download the data here.
Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the best of the best. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.
Welcome to the Best Pittsburgh 'Burbs of 2021
We said it once and we'll say it again--life in the big city isn't for everyone. At least not all the time.
So if you're hankering for some of the amenities of a larger city like Pittsburgh, but don't want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might just be for you.
For more Pennsylvania reading, check out:
