Living in Loyalhanna, Pennsylvania: homes, schools and costs

The book's checklist

Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 5.3% below the U.S. average in the Pittsburgh metro area.
More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.6 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 town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Dr Robert Ketterer Cs INC, about 2 miles away.
A hospital close byExcela Health Latrobe Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
Within reach of a big cityPittsburgh is about 34 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 Loyalhanna 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

Loyalhanna runs into the built-up area around Pittsburgh (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: $174,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then: Up 18%Westmoreland County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities: $798 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income: $67,841U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them: 82%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill: $1,942 a yearPennsylvania: $3,311
Homes built before 1940: 19%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010: 3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes: 0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices: 94.7U.S. average = 100 (the Pittsburgh 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 18% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Pittsburgh metro area, not Loyalhanna 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: 3,349The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age: 48.1 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older: 28%U.S.: 17%
Under 18: 16%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more: 22%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year: 3%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 (27%); manufacturing (22%); professional and business services (10%)
Unemployment rate: 4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute: 24 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home: 8%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line: 8%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Excela Health Latrobe Hospital, Latrobe, PA, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 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

1 public school in Loyalhanna, run by Greater Latrobe SD. The nearest public high school is Dr Robert Ketterer Cs INC, 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: 68%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription: 84%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: 21°F
July average high: 82°F
Days 90°F or hotter: 6 a year
Nights at or below freezing: 130 a year
Rain and melted snow: 49.6 inches a year
Snow: 48 inches a year
Elevation: 1,150 feet

Weather stations: Mt Pleasant (10 miles away) and Derry 4 SW (2 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

Pittsburgh, PAMetro of 2.4 million34

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.

Westmoreland County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site26 miles
Flight 93 National Memorial29 miles
Johnstown Flood National Memorial30 miles
Fort Necessity National Battlefield33 miles
Friendship Hill National Historic Site47 miles

Read about Loyalhanna's history on Wikipedia.

Know Loyalhanna?

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

Latrobe, PA7,800 people, 1 miles
Derry, PA2,600 people, 3 miles
Ligonier, PA1,500 people, 8 miles
Blairsville, PA3,200 people, 10 miles
Greensburg, PA14,500 people, 10 miles
Southwest Greensburg, PA2,100 people, 10 miles

Smaller places

Bradenville, PA (unincorporated)495 people, 1 mile
Lawson Heights, PA (unincorporated)2,213 people, 2 miles
Youngstown, PA238 people, 2 miles
St. Vincent College, PA (unincorporated)1,326 people, 3 miles
Hostetter, PA (unincorporated)453 people, 4 miles
Millwood, PA (unincorporated)366 people, 4 miles
New Alexandria, PA479 people, 6 miles
Crabtree, PA (unincorporated)201 people, 7 miles

Sources

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.