Best PlacesMcdonald, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mcdonald, 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.
Mcdonald ranks 2,422nd of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Mcdonald
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.
Mcdonald's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mcdonald ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 94% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of towns
- Household income$112,367 median, better than 91% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of towns
Where Mcdonald ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$999 a month, better than only 24% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mcdonald
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mcdonald home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $112,367, 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 Mcdonald's effective rate of 1.38%, 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 Mcdonald
Mcdonald's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mcdonald.
Who works in Mcdonald, and how
Work in Mcdonald centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Mcdonald
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mcdonald.
What the weather is like in Mcdonald, month by month
Mcdonald 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 Mcdonald
Pittsburgh International sits about 9 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 Mcdonald
Schools across Mcdonald average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wilson El SchA+ · 98% proficient
- South Fayette Intermediate SchA+ · 95% proficient
- Donaldson Elem SchA+ · 90% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Fayette MsA+ · 80% proficient
- Cecil Intrmd SchA · 61% proficient
- Canonsburg MsA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- South Fayette Twp HsA+ · 88% proficient
- West Allegheny ShsA+ · 82% proficient
- Canon-mcmillan ShsA · 79% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mcdonald school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mcdonald 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 Mcdonald against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mcdonald
Is Mcdonald a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mcdonald ranks 2,422nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, good schools, and population health, and lowest on property 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 Mcdonald expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $320,213. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $112,367 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is Mcdonald safe?
Yes, Mcdonald is safer than 75% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $224 per resident a year.
Compare Mcdonald with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mcdonald. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mcdonald 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.
Mcdonald detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mcdonald: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mcdonald: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mcdonald: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mcdonald: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mcdonald 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.