Best PlacesSouth Heights, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Heights, 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.
South Heights ranks 21,699th 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 South Heights
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.
South Heights' strengths and weaknesses
Where South Heights ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 95% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- BikingBetter than 88% of towns
Where South Heights ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 15% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 24% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Heights
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Heights home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,653, 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 South Heights' effective rate of 1.53%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in South Heights
South Heights 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 South Heights.
Who works in South Heights, and how
Work in South Heights centers on retail trade and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in South Heights
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across South Heights.
What the weather is like in South Heights, month by month
South Heights sees roughly 69 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 South Heights
Pittsburgh International sits about 6 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 South Heights
Schools across South Heights average a B, better than 73% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Highland El SchD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ambridge Area MsC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Ambridge Area HsC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Heights school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Heights 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 South Heights against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Heights
Is South Heights a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Heights ranks 21,699th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, transit, and few empty homes, 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 South Heights expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $222,700. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $64,653 median income, cost of living beats 38% of towns.
Is South Heights safe?
South Heights is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $307 per resident a year.
Compare South Heights with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Heights. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Heights 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.
South Heights detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Heights: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Heights: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Heights: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Heights: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Heights 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.