Best PlacesShadyside, Pittsburgh, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shadyside, Pittsburgh, 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.
Shadyside, Pittsburgh ranks 1,399th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Shadyside, 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.
Shadyside, Pittsburgh's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shadyside, Pittsburgh ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
Where Shadyside, Pittsburgh ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Shadyside, Pittsburgh
A household needs to earn about $148,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shadyside, Pittsburgh home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $81,439, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Shadyside, Pittsburgh's effective rate of 1.30%, 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 Shadyside, Pittsburgh
Shadyside, Pittsburgh runs younger 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 Shadyside, Pittsburgh.
Who works in Shadyside, Pittsburgh, and how
Work in Shadyside, Pittsburgh centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 33%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 37%
Life in Shadyside, Pittsburgh
Shadyside, Pittsburgh has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Shadyside, Pittsburgh and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Shadyside, Pittsburgh, month by month
Shadyside, Pittsburgh sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 68° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Shadyside, Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh International sits about 16 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 Shadyside, Pittsburgh
Schools across Shadyside, Pittsburgh average a C+, better than 57% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Pittsburgh Linden K-5B · 50% proficient
- Pittsburgh Liberty K-5B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pittsburgh Classical 6-8D · 20% proficient
- Pittsburgh Arsenal 6-8F · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Pittsburgh Allderdice HsB · 48% proficient
- Pittsburgh Milliones 6-12F · 11% proficient
- Academy At WestinghouseF · 6% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shadyside, Pittsburgh school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shadyside, 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 Shadyside, Pittsburgh against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Shadyside, Pittsburgh
Is Shadyside, Pittsburgh a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shadyside, Pittsburgh ranks 1,399th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on population health, low disaster risk, and an educated workforce, 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 Shadyside, Pittsburgh expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $530,273. The overall cost of living runs about 3% above the national average. Set against a $81,439 median income, cost of living beats 63% of neighborhoods.
Is Shadyside, Pittsburgh safe?
Shadyside, Pittsburgh is safer than 29% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $531 per resident a year.
Compare Shadyside, Pittsburgh with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shadyside, Pittsburgh. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shadyside, 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.
Shadyside, Pittsburgh detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shadyside, Pittsburgh: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shadyside, Pittsburgh: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shadyside, Pittsburgh: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shadyside, Pittsburgh: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shadyside, 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.