More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Pittsburgh to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Pittsburgh are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Pittsburgh ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Pittsburgh area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Pittsburgh proper, although Aspinwall certainly tries.
We examined the 93 biggest suburbs of Pittsburgh to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Pennsylvania lists, these places are a little too far downwind of Pittsburgh in terms of quality of life.
$34,564 median income · $73,434 median home price
We’ll get the ball rolling with North Braddock, the absolute worst place to live around Pittsburgh according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, North Braddock beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 3rd worst in the Pittsburgh area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 4th worst when it comes to home values.
But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s North Braddock.
You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.
Data | Movers
$34,219 median income · $96,205 median home price
Located in
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Welcome to McKeesport. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 9.7 miles to Pittsburgh. Income levels here are the 2nd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $34,219 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.
But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$31,810 median income · $77,100 median home price
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Pittsburgh suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Brownsville on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.
In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other Pittsburgh suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
$47,803 median income · $94,163 median home price
If you live in Glassport, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 2lowest Pittsburgh suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 4th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Pittsburgh. Remember, we looked at 93 cities for this study.
Glassport is about 9.2 miles to downtown.
Data | Movers
$36,538 median income · $157,509 median home price
Located in
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Clairton has the distinction of being a Pittsburgh suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Clairton has the 36th lowest home values in the metro Pittsburgh area, where the median price is $157,509. The median income is $243,625.
Clairton has an unemployment rate of 8.2% which ranks 25th worst.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$37,813 median income · $58,272 median home price
Braddock has 2,039 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)
Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 27.5%.
$39,544 median income · $44,599 median home price
Ah, Donora. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Pittsburgh.
It’s the place with the 5th most out of work residents in the Pittsburgh metro area (12.7%).
Data | Movers
$51,174 median income · $156,861 median home price
Bentleyville is a city about 22.3 miles from Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Bentleyville has the 9th most uninsured people, 30th worst incomes, and has the 34th highest unemployment rate (7.4%) in the entire Pittsburgh metro area.
Homes only cost $156,861 for a reason. That’s cheap for Pittsburgh standards.
$45,997 median income · $97,661 median home price
If you absolutely have to live near Pittsburgh, then Turtle Creek might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Pittsburgh suburb.
About 16.1% of residents are out of work.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$44,180 median income · $59,332 median home price
Located in
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Rounding out the ten worst Pittsburgh suburbs to call home is Duquesne.
Located 8.1 miles outside the city, Duquesne is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 2highest unemployment rate (9.1%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Pennsylvania’s statewide median.
Pennsylvania statewide median: $77,971
Pennsylvania statewide median: $282,736
Pennsylvania statewide median: 5.3%
Pennsylvania statewide median: 11.7%
On the map
Where the worst Pittsburgh suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Pittsburgh for 2026
To figure out how bad a Pittsburgh suburb is to live in, we used Saturday Night Science to identify the kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.
Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2020-2024, this is the criteria we used:
- High unemployment rate
- Low median household incomes
- Low population density (no things to do)
- Low home values
- A lot of high school dropouts
- High poverty
- High rate of uninsured families
We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of Pittsburgh.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 93 suburbs to evaluate around Pittsburgh.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 93 in each category, where 1 was the worst.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index, the “Worst Suburb near Pittsburgh.” We’re looking at you, North Braddock.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around Pittsburgh.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst Pittsburgh Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Braddock | 13.29 | 4,219 | $34,564 | $73,434 |
| 2 | McKeesport | 13.36 | 17,380 | $34,219 | $96,205 |
| 3 | Brownsville | 16.00 | 2,412 | $31,810 | $77,100 |
| 4 | Glassport | 17.29 | 4,368 | $47,803 | $94,163 |
| 5 | Clairton | 17.43 | 6,044 | $36,538 | $157,509 |
| 6 | Braddock | 17.71 | 2,039 | $37,813 | $58,272 |
| 7 | Donora | 18.00 | 4,527 | $39,544 | $44,599 |
| 8 | Bentleyville | 18.57 | 2,437 | $51,174 | $156,861 |
| 9 | Turtle Creek | 21.21 | 5,007 | $45,997 | $97,661 |
| 10 | Duquesne | 22.00 | 5,149 | $44,180 | $59,332 |
| 11 | Rochester | 23.57 | 3,422 | $43,080 | $129,759 |
| 12 | California | 23.57 | 4,864 | $48,606 | $116,355 |
| 13 | Charleroi | 25.00 | 4,202 | $43,265 | $90,660 |
| 14 | Aliquippa | 26.86 | 9,079 | $50,188 | $199,055 |
| 15 | Arnold | 27.00 | 4,704 | $45,417 | $75,917 |
| 16 | Arnold | 27.00 | 4,704 | $45,417 | $75,917 |
| 17 | Port Vue | 27.00 | 3,620 | $58,194 | $91,653 |
| 18 | McKees Rocks | 29.29 | 5,786 | $41,131 | $193,202 |
| 19 | Homestead | 30.29 | 2,874 | $39,052 | $79,936 |
| 20 | Ambridge | 30.57 | 6,890 | $51,537 | $135,994 |
| 21 | Liberty | 31.14 | 3,350 | $42,206 | $261,044 |
| 22 | New Eagle | 31.43 | 2,085 | $51,716 | $122,892 |
| 23 | Pitcairn | 32.71 | 3,032 | $36,419 | $87,709 |
| 24 | Beaver Falls | 33.29 | 8,850 | $49,924 | $195,209 |
| 25 | Vandergrift | 33.57 | 5,011 | $50,901 | $104,150 |
| 26 | Butler | 33.86 | 13,212 | $44,247 | $235,361 |
| 27 | Monessen | 34.14 | 6,780 | $52,889 | $80,829 |
| 28 | Mount Oliver | 36.14 | 3,319 | $52,297 | $107,651 |
| 29 | Wilkinsburg | 36.79 | 14,027 | $46,416 | $172,752 |
| 30 | Verona | 37.14 | 2,524 | $48,733 | $171,285 |
| 31 | Jeannette | 37.29 | 8,657 | $49,188 | $174,394 |
| 32 | Monongahela | 37.43 | 4,109 | $59,861 | $148,471 |
| 33 | West Newton | 38.29 | 2,621 | $52,961 | $151,615 |
| 34 | East Pittsburgh | 38.64 | 2,121 | $38,561 | $100,380 |
| 35 | Sharpsburg | 39.07 | 3,119 | $59,228 | $143,885 |
| 36 | Munhall | 39.29 | 10,548 | $52,517 | $147,110 |
| 37 | Washington | 39.43 | 13,368 | $52,975 | $233,300 |
| 38 | New Kensington | 39.43 | 12,011 | $49,063 | $169,954 |
| 39 | Etna | 40.00 | 3,364 | $53,654 | $144,080 |
| 40 | West Mifflin | 44.14 | 19,190 | $76,563 | $160,812 |
| 41 | Midland | 45.43 | 2,293 | $60,096 | $105,171 |
| 42 | Tarentum | 46.64 | 4,249 | $45,167 | $149,048 |
| 43 | Swissvale | 46.79 | 8,418 | $60,341 | $163,309 |
| 44 | Conway | 47.14 | 2,195 | $66,029 | $197,925 |
| 45 | New Brighton | 47.29 | 5,567 | $52,939 | $151,446 |
| 46 | Delmont | 48.21 | 2,610 | $56,806 | $251,453 |
| 47 | East McKeesport | 48.71 | 2,002 | $65,907 | $112,317 |
| 48 | Brentwood | 51.57 | 9,866 | $68,904 | $169,689 |
| 49 | White Oak | 51.57 | 7,468 | $59,452 | $192,181 |
| 50 | Brackenridge | 51.71 | 3,167 | $50,197 | $110,886 |
| 51 | Emsworth | 51.79 | 2,465 | $64,816 | $204,636 |
| 52 | Monaca | 52.00 | 5,519 | $73,538 | $209,283 |
| 53 | Bridgeville | 53.29 | 4,686 | $59,981 | $307,186 |
| 54 | Greensburg | 53.86 | 14,741 | $64,914 | $238,469 |
| 55 | McDonald | 54.14 | 2,065 | $65,625 | $374,034 |
| 56 | Springdale | 54.29 | 3,319 | $65,893 | $170,975 |
| 57 | Millvale | 54.43 | 3,299 | $72,778 | $130,271 |
| 58 | Avalon | 54.57 | 4,674 | $51,250 | $189,416 |
| 59 | Canonsburg | 54.93 | 9,675 | $79,227 | $358,324 |
| 60 | Whitehall | 56.00 | 14,811 | $89,404 | $262,406 |
| 61 | Trafford | 57.21 | 3,216 | $65,839 | $236,352 |
| 62 | West View | 57.29 | 6,533 | $84,063 | $252,296 |
| 63 | Coraopolis | 57.71 | 5,417 | $63,828 | $302,086 |
| 64 | South Greensburg | 57.86 | 2,446 | $64,097 | $180,307 |
| 65 | Baldwin | 58.00 | 21,057 | $80,983 | $231,521 |
| 66 | Lower Burrell | 58.14 | 11,633 | $84,602 | $200,396 |
| 67 | Crafton | 58.43 | 5,961 | $64,006 | $208,119 |
| 68 | Youngwood | 59.14 | 2,926 | $70,581 | $141,950 |
| 69 | Carnegie | 59.36 | 7,978 | $67,656 | $224,034 |
| 70 | Jefferson Hills | 59.57 | 12,317 | $116,064 | $350,948 |
| 71 | Irwin | 60.00 | 3,831 | $59,963 | $256,435 |
| 72 | New Stanton | 60.29 | 2,515 | $71,250 | $226,888 |
| 73 | Baden | 61.14 | 3,843 | $63,400 | $281,778 |
| 74 | Bellevue | 62.00 | 8,128 | $68,827 | $236,965 |
| 75 | Zelienople | 62.50 | 3,827 | $68,110 | $373,741 |
| 76 | Forest Hills | 63.36 | 6,286 | $89,688 | $222,967 |
| 77 | Economy | 63.64 | 9,005 | $95,313 | $278,625 |
| 78 | Manor | 64.64 | 3,538 | $138,583 | $303,844 |
| 79 | Castle Shannon | 64.86 | 8,209 | $64,071 | $211,413 |
| 80 | Beaver | 65.14 | 4,374 | $81,156 | $270,488 |
| 81 | Ingram | 67.14 | 3,299 | $71,154 | $181,164 |
| 82 | Churchill | 68.57 | 3,087 | $106,964 | $260,850 |
| 83 | Sewickley | 69.71 | 3,823 | $101,053 | $497,916 |
| 84 | Plum | 69.79 | 26,723 | $98,705 | $252,851 |
| 85 | Pleasant Hills | 70.43 | 8,399 | $102,167 | $265,880 |
| 86 | Fox Chapel | 71.93 | 5,246 | $243,625 | $1,000,519 |
| 87 | Green Tree | 72.64 | 4,833 | $92,422 | $279,847 |
| 88 | Franklin Park | 73.14 | 15,235 | $176,875 | $539,476 |
| 89 | Dormont | 73.21 | 8,063 | $80,526 | $246,408 |
| 90 | Oakmont | 74.07 | 6,702 | $92,782 | $333,787 |
| 91 | Seven Fields | 79.14 | 2,884 | $114,000 | $455,155 |
| 92 | Edgewood | 81.43 | 3,077 | $103,203 | $363,724 |
| 93 | Aspinwall | 86.93 | 2,843 | $107,000 | $397,840 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 93 suburbs within 30 miles of Pittsburgh.
Summary
Summary: The areas around Pittsburgh where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Pittsburgh with North Braddock casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Pittsburgh are North Braddock, McKeesport, Brownsville, Glassport, Clairton, Braddock, Donora, Bentleyville, Turtle Creek, and Duquesne.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Pittsburgh aren’t all bad. Aspinwall takes the cake as the best place to live around Pittsburgh. Not sold on Pennsylvania? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Suburbs Of Pittsburgh FAQs
What is the worst suburb of Pittsburgh?
North Braddock ranks as the worst suburb around Pittsburgh for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. McKeesport and Brownsville are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of Pittsburgh?
The worst-ranked suburbs around Pittsburgh are North Braddock, McKeesport, Brownsville, Glassport, Clairton, Braddock, Donora, Bentleyville, Turtle Creek, and Duquesne. We scored all 93 places within 30 miles.
Why does North Braddock rank as the worst suburb?
North Braddock posts the roughest combined numbers of the 93 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $34,564, a median home value of $73,434, and a poverty rate of 28.8%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near Pittsburgh?
Aspinwall lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near Pittsburgh by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of Pittsburgh list covers that side properly.
How do you rank the worst suburbs?
Suburbs are scored on unemployment, income, density, home values, dropouts, poverty, and insurance coverage, using Census American Community Survey data. Real numbers, light heart — every one of these towns has people making it work.
