Best PlacesRuff Creek, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ruff Creek, 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.
Ruff Creek ranks 27,054th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on a stable housing market, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ruff Creek
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.
Ruff Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ruff Creek ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 79% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 77% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 76% of towns
Where Ruff Creek ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 13% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of towns
- Short commute34.3 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ruff Creek
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ruff Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,568, 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 Ruff Creek's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 Ruff Creek
Ruff Creek 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 Ruff Creek.
Who works in Ruff Creek, and how
Work in Ruff Creek centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Ruff Creek
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ruff Creek.
What the weather is like in Ruff Creek, month by month
Ruff Creek sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Ruff Creek
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 36 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ruff Creek
Schools across Ruff Creek average a C+, better than 40% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Jefferson-morgan El SchB− · 43% proficient
- Waynesburg Central El SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Miller MsD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Jefferson-morgan Ms/hsC+ · 37% proficient
- Waynesburg Central HsC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ruff Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ruff Creek 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 Ruff Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ruff Creek
Is Ruff Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ruff Creek ranks 27,054th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, tree cover, and heat safety, and lowest on a weak job market and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ruff Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $218,913. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $72,568 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is Ruff Creek safe?
Yes, Ruff Creek is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $237 per resident a year.
Compare Ruff Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ruff Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ruff Creek 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.
Ruff Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ruff Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ruff Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ruff Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ruff Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ruff Creek 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.