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Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Johnstown is a small town of about 17,700 people in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. It has lost about 4% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 1.2 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 56 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
17,654
down 3.9% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$45,400
Cambria County prices up 21% since 2022
Household income
$37,888
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Johnstown area
85.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center
To Pittsburgh
56 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 1.2 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood118 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 5.9 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 20.6 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town12 public schools: 6 elementary, 1 middle and 5 high schools.
  • A hospital close byConemaugh Memorial Medical Center is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPittsburgh is about 56 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 Johnstown 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.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$45,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 21%Cambria County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$644 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$37,888U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
55%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,199 a yearPennsylvania: $3,311
Homes built before 1940
48%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%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 Johnstown 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, 2025 estimate
17,6542020: 18,368
Median age
44 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
20%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
22%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
16%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
6%U.S.: 6%

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 (26%); retail (14%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (12%)
Unemployment rate
6%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
20 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
10%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
32%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, in town. 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

12 public schools in Johnstown, run by Greater Johnstown SD and Ferndale Area SD.

Colleges in or next to town: Commonwealth Technical Institute (under 1,000 students).

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
66%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
83%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
1,166 feet

Weather stations: Johnstown Cambria Co Ap (5 miles away) and Boswell (13 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: 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

15 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, Cambria Iron Company, the Cambria City Historic District and the Downtown Johnstown Historic District. Two are National Historic Landmarks, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site4 miles
  • Johnstown Flood National Memorial7 miles
  • Flight 93 National Memorial17 miles
  • Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park48 miles
  • Fort Necessity National Battlefield49 miles

Read about Johnstown's history on Wikipedia.

Know Johnstown?

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

  • Daisytown, PA283 people, 1 mile
  • Brownstown, PA664 people, 1 mile
  • Dale, PA947 people, 1 mile
  • Westwood, PA (unincorporated)1,613 people, 2 miles
  • Franklin, PA263 people, 2 miles
  • Lorain, PA568 people, 2 miles
  • Oakland, PA (unincorporated)1,627 people, 2 miles
  • Riverside, PA (unincorporated)267 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.