Best PlacesRural Ridge, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rural Ridge, 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.
Rural Ridge ranks 486th 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 Rural Ridge
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.
Rural Ridge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rural Ridge ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$148,511 median, better than 97% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of towns
Where Rural Ridge ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cheap childcare$991 a month, better than only 25% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rural Ridge
A household needs to earn about $110,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rural Ridge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $148,511, 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 Rural Ridge's effective rate of 1.57%, 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 Rural Ridge
Rural Ridge's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rural Ridge.
Who works in Rural Ridge, and how
Work in Rural Ridge centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Rural Ridge
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rural Ridge.
What the weather is like in Rural Ridge, month by month
Rural Ridge sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 29° | 20° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 39° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Rural Ridge
Pittsburgh International sits about 23 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 Rural Ridge
Schools across Rural Ridge average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- East Union Intrmd SchA− · 59% proficient
- Acmetonia El SchB+ · 54% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dorseyville MsA+ · 72% proficient
- Deer Lakes MsB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Deer Lakes HsB · 50% proficient
- Springdale JshsB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rural Ridge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rural Ridge 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 Rural Ridge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rural Ridge
Is Rural Ridge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rural Ridge ranks 486th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, what local pay buys, and a strong job market, 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 Rural Ridge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $379,100. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $148,511 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Rural Ridge safe?
Yes, Rural Ridge is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $135 per resident a year.
Compare Rural Ridge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rural Ridge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rural Ridge 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.
Rural Ridge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rural Ridge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rural Ridge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rural Ridge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rural Ridge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rural Ridge 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.