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Towns / Pennsylvania

Loretto, Pennsylvania

Loretto is a college town of about 1,100 people in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. It has lost about 5% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.2 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 71 miles away as the crow flies.

College town

Population
1,135
down 4.8% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$204,300
Cambria County prices up 21% since 2022
Household income
$63,929
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Johnstown area
85.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
12 miles
Hastings, PA
To Pittsburgh
71 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 3.2 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood0 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 0 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is Penn Cambria Hs, about 4 miles away.
  • A hospital close byConemaugh Miners Medical Center in Hastings, about 12 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPittsburgh is about 71 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 Loretto 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

College town. About 83% of residents are college students, with Saint Francis University in town. Concerts, sports and good food all year, and a big employer that rarely closes. Expect higher home prices close to campus.

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
$204,300U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 21%Cambria County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$63,929U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
75%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,696 a yearPennsylvania: $3,311
Homes built since 2010
3%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 Loretto 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
1,1352020: 1,192
Median age
20.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
4%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
3%U.S.: 22%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
23%U.S.: 6%
College students
83%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
Retail (13%)
Work from home
6%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
36%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Conemaugh Miners Medical Center, Hastings, PA, about 12 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: UPMC Altoona, Altoona, PA, about 13 miles away. Medicare gives it 3 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 Loretto itself. The nearest public high school is Penn Cambria Hs, about 4 miles away.

Colleges in or next to town: Saint Francis University (1,000 to 4,999 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.

Weather

January average low
16°F
July average high
79°F
Days 90°F or hotter
2 a year
Nights at or below freezing
156 a year
Rain and melted snow
48.7 inches a year
Snow
80 inches a year
Elevation
1,968 feet

Weather station: Ebensburg Sewage Plt (6 miles away). 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 Miners 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 Memorial13 miles
  • Flight 93 National Memorial32 miles
  • Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park60 miles

Campus life. Check Saint Francis University's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Loretto's history on Wikipedia.

Know Loretto?

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

  • Sankertown, PA613 people, 3 miles
  • Chest Springs, PA133 people, 5 miles
  • Tunnelhill, PA302 people, 5 miles
  • Ashville, PA206 people, 6 miles
  • Lilly, PA842 people, 6 miles
  • Revloc, PA (unincorporated)391 people, 7 miles
  • Cassandra, PA153 people, 7 miles
  • Jamestown, PA (unincorporated)233 people, 7 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.