Best Places15236, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 15236, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
15236 ranks 5,631st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 15236
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.
15236's strengths and weaknesses
Where 15236 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 91% of zip codes
- School gradeA−, better than 86% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 85% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 82% of zip codes
Where 15236 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 28% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 29% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 15236
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 15236 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $94,177, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 15236's effective rate of 1.62%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 15236
15236 runs older 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 15236.
Who works in 15236, and how
Work in 15236 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 15236
15236 has more parkland per resident than 90% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 15236 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 15236, month by month
15236 sees roughly 77 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 15236
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 15236
Schools across 15236 average an A−, better than 86% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Jefferson Hills Intermediate SchA+ · 85% proficient
- South Park Elem CenterA+ · 80% proficient
- Whitehall El SchA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Neil Armstrong 5-6 MsA · 61% proficient
- Pleasant Hills MsA · 60% proficient
- South Park MsA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- South Park ShsA+ · 95% proficient
- Thomas Jefferson HsA+ · 80% proficient
- Brentwood ShsA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 15236 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
15236 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 15236 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 15236 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 15236
Is 15236 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 15236 ranks 5,631st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, transit, and good schools, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 15236 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $238,951. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $94,177 median income, cost of living beats 75% of zip codes.
Is 15236 safe?
15236 is safer than 42% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $293 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 15236?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 23. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 40% of zip codes.
Is 15236 good for families?
Schools beat 86% of zip codes, crime safety beats 42%, and childcare runs $991 a month.
Compare 15236 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 15236. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 15236 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.
15236 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 15236: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 15236: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 15236: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 15236: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
15236 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.