Best Places15217, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 15217, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
15217 ranks 2,342nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 15217
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
15217's strengths and weaknesses
Where 15217 ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 98% of zip codes
Where 15217 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 29% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 15217
A household needs to earn about $141,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 15217 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $110,715, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 15217's effective rate of 1.11%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 15217
15217 runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 15217.
Who works in 15217, and how
Work in 15217 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 47%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 26%
Life in 15217
15217 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 98% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 15217 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 15217, month by month
15217 sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 68° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 15217
Pittsburgh International sits about 17 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.8 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 15217
Schools across 15217 average a C+, better than 51% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Pittsburgh Colfax K-8A · 65% proficient
- Pittsburgh Linden K-5B · 50% proficient
- Pittsburgh Minadeo K-5B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pittsburgh Sterrett 6-8D+ · 25% proficient
- Pittsburgh Classical 6-8D · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Pittsburgh Allderdice HsB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 15217 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
15217 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 15217 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 15217 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 27% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 15217
Is 15217 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 15217 ranks 2,342nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on an educated workforce, low disaster risk, and transit, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 15217 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $516,312. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $110,715 median income, cost of living beats 85% of zip codes.
Is 15217 safe?
15217 is safer than 18% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $412 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 15217?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 23. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 38% of zip codes.
Is 15217 good for families?
Schools beat 51% of zip codes, crime safety beats 18%, and childcare runs $991 a month.
Compare 15217 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 15217. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 15217 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
15217 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 15217: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 15217: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 15217: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 15217: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
15217 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.