Best PlacesWest Homestead, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Homestead, 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.
West Homestead ranks 25,847th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Homestead
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.
West Homestead's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Homestead ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of towns
Where West Homestead ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Homestead
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Homestead home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,250, 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 West Homestead's effective rate of 1.88%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in West Homestead
West Homestead's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 West Homestead.
Who works in West Homestead, and how
Work in West Homestead centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in West Homestead
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Homestead.
What the weather is like in West Homestead, month by month
West Homestead sees roughly 74 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 West Homestead
Pittsburgh International sits about 18 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 West Homestead
Schools across West Homestead average a B, better than 73% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Park El SchA · 70% proficient
- Barrett El SchB · 50% proficient
- Pittsburgh Mifflin K-8C− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Steel Valley MsC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Steel Valley ShsA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Homestead school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Homestead 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 West Homestead against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Homestead
Is West Homestead a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Homestead ranks 25,847th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, low disaster risk, and transit, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Homestead expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $167,400. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $77,250 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is West Homestead safe?
West Homestead is safer than 6% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $560 per resident a year.
Compare West Homestead with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Homestead. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Homestead 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.
West Homestead detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Homestead: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Homestead: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Homestead: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Homestead: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Homestead 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.