Best PlacesBulger, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bulger, 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.
Bulger ranks 23,265th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bulger
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.
Bulger's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bulger ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 81% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 77% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 75% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 70% of towns
Where Bulger ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 23% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,005 a month, better than only 24% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bulger
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bulger home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,967, 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 Bulger's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 Bulger
Bulger 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 Bulger.
Who works in Bulger, and how
Work in Bulger centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bulger
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bulger.
What the weather is like in Bulger, month by month
Bulger sees roughly 74 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 Bulger
Pittsburgh International sits about 8 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 Bulger
Schools across Bulger average a B+, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wilson El SchA+ · 98% proficient
- Donaldson Elem SchA+ · 90% proficient
- Fort Cherry El CtrA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Side MsA− · 55% proficient
- West Allegheny MsA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- West Allegheny ShsA+ · 82% proficient
- Fort Cherry JshsB+ · 52% proficient
- Burgettstown Ms/hsC · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bulger school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bulger 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 Bulger against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bulger
Is Bulger a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bulger ranks 23,265th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, big-city access, and heat safety, and lowest on state infrastructure and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bulger expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $197,665. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $71,967 median income, cost of living beats 45% of towns.
Is Bulger safe?
Bulger is safer than 54% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $245 per resident a year.
Compare Bulger with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bulger. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bulger 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.
Bulger detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bulger: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bulger: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bulger: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bulger: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bulger 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.