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Towns / Pennsylvania

Belmont, Pennsylvania

Belmont is an unincorporated community of about 2,600 people in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, in the Johnstown area. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 2.1 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Pittsburgh, is about 58 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Johnstown

Population
2,618
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$144,900
Cambria County prices up 21% since 2022
Household income
$69,146
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Johnstown area
85.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
2 miles
Johnstown, PA
To Pittsburgh
58 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 14.1% below the U.S. average in the Johnstown metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.1 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is Ferndale Area Jshs, about 2 miles away.
  • A hospital close byConemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, about 2 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPittsburgh is about 58 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Belmont meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Belmont runs into the built-up area around Johnstown (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$144,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 21%Cambria County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$69,146U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
66%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,544 a yearPennsylvania: $3,311
Homes built before 1940
6%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
4%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
85.9U.S. average = 100 (the Johnstown metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 21% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Johnstown metro area, not Belmont alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
2,618The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
50.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
31%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
11%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
34%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
0%U.S.: 6%
College students
8%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (27%); manufacturing (12%); professional and business services (12%)
Unemployment rate
2%U.S.: 5%
Work from home
11%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
9%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, Johnstown, PA, about 2 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

There are no public schools inside Belmont itself. The nearest public high school is Ferndale Area Jshs, about 2 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Pennsylvania's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
75%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
90%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
19°F
July average high
79°F
Days 90°F or hotter
0 a year
Nights at or below freezing
127 a year
Rain and melted snow
45 inches a year
Snow
65 inches a year
Elevation
1,763 feet

Weather stations: Johnstown Cambria Co Ap (4 miles away) and Boswell (11 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, Pittsburgh.

Cambria County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site5 miles
  • Johnstown Flood National Memorial7 miles
  • Flight 93 National Memorial13 miles
  • Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park44 miles
  • Fort Necessity National Battlefield48 miles

Read about Belmont's history on Wikipedia.

Know Belmont?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Lorain, PA568 people, 1 mile
  • Oakland, PA (unincorporated)1,627 people, 2 miles
  • Riverside, PA (unincorporated)267 people, 2 miles
  • Dale, PA947 people, 2 miles
  • Daisytown, PA283 people, 3 miles
  • Scalp Level, PA716 people, 3 miles
  • University of Pittsburgh Johnstown, PA (unincorporated)1,380 people, 3 miles
  • Paint, PA875 people, 3 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.