Best PlacesBrighton Heights, Pittsburgh, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh ranks 3,006th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh
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.
Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh's strengths and weaknesses
Where Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
Where Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 21% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 22% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 22% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,086, 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 Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh's effective rate of 1.02%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh
Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh 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 Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh.
Who works in Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh, and how
Work in Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh.
What the weather is like in Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh, month by month
Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 22° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh International sits about 10 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 Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh
Schools across Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh average a C−, better than 31% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Highcliff El SchA · 69% proficient
- Bellevue El SchA− · 60% proficient
- Pittsburgh Linden K-5B · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Hills MsA− · 56% proficient
- Pittsburgh Classical 6-8D · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- North Hills ShsA · 72% proficient
- Northgate MshsC+ · 40% proficient
- Pittsburgh Perry HsF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh 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 Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh
Is Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh ranks 3,006th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on low disaster risk, civic engagement, and a stable housing market, and lowest on taxes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $202,043. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $77,086 median income, cost of living beats 63% of neighborhoods.
Is Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh safe?
Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh is safer than 21% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $573 per resident a year.
Compare Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh 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.
Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brighton Heights, Pittsburgh 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.