Census-designated place · Fayette County, Pennsylvania

Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania

Bear Rocks is a census-designated place in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh, PA metro area. It has 1,258 residents. Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania has a quality-of-life score of 33 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,517 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Pennsylvania it ranks #944 of 997 cities and towns. It ranks best on drought exposure (low), uninsured residents (under 65) (low) and hot days (low). It ranks worst on injury deaths (high), preventable hospital stays (high) and hospital quality rating (low).

33Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,517 of 15,651 cities and towns
Pennsylvania: #944 of 997 in PA
Population: 1,258 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 388.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 4204616

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety25#11,656/15,637
Economy24#11,824/15,631
Housing57#6,420/14,977
Health16#13,080/15,609
Healthcare77#3,559/15,650
Environment76#3,699/15,453
Education46#8,519/15,649
Infrastructure25#11,754/15,650
Community25#11,724/15,651
Leisure & amenities31#10,835/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Fayette County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Drought exposure · low0%
95/100Pennsylvania 26%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAFayette County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · low1.5%
93/100Pennsylvania 7.2%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010High uncertainty
Hot days · low3 days
91/100Pennsylvania 7 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationFayette County value
Mental health care shortage · low0.0
91/100Pennsylvania 1.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationFayette County value
Mental health providers · high520 /100k
89/100Pennsylvania 308 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFayette County value
Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
84/100Pennsylvania 0.8%2025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyFayette County value

Weaknesses

Injury deaths · high140 /100k
6/100Pennsylvania 98 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFayette County value
Preventable hospital stays · high4,019 /100k
9/100Pennsylvania 3,115 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFayette County value
Hospital quality rating · low2.0
9/100Pennsylvania 3.5United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesFayette County value
Life expectancy · low72.5 yrs
9/100Pennsylvania 77.4 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFayette County value
Premature death · high12,591 /100k
10/100Pennsylvania 7,952 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFayette County value
New business applications · low8.5 /1k
10/100Pennsylvania 12.4 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauFayette County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
794 (2015-2019) → 1,258 (2020-2024)
+58%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Income inequality (Gini index)Worsening
0.280 (2015-2019) → 0.437 (2020-2024)
+56%5 yearsCensus table B19083US 0.482 → 0.483
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.0× (2015-2019) → 3.1× (2020-2024)
+56%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
10.6% (2015-2019) → 1.5% (2020-2024)
−9.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
50.0% (2015-2019) → 58.6% (2020-2024)
+8.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Unemployment rateWorsening
0.0% (2015-2019) → 7.5% (2020-2024)
+7.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania improved on 0 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 8 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined2

Household income−23%$90,926 → $69,758
Price / income+1.1×2.0× → 3.1×

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	34.0 min2015-2019	29.4 min2020-2024	−4.6 min	Within the margin of error	88%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.9%2015-2019	22.6%2020-2024	−5.2 points	Within the margin of error	7%
Broadband subscriptions	92.6%2015-2019	92.6%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	8%
Child poverty rate	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Effective property tax rate	1.07%2015-2019	1.00%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	29%
High school diploma or higher	91.9%2015-2019	95.8%2020-2024	+3.9 points	Within the margin of error	75%
Home price to income ratio	2.0×2015-2019	3.1×2020-2024	+1.1×	Declined	19%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.2802015-2019	0.4372020-2024	+0.157	Within the margin of error	1%
Median household income	$90,9262015-2019	$69,7582020-2024	−23%	Declined	1%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania itself moved −18.8 points in standing on average over the same 8 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,258 residents (±413)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under 10 women (−6.2 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

1,258 residents (±413)

Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

White96%†1,204
Black0.0%0
Hispanic or Latino0.0%0

Education

1,095 residents (±371)

Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

No high school diploma4.2%†46
High school or GED32%†353
Some college35%

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

606 households (±196)

Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under $25k4.5%†27
$25k–50k8.1%†49
$50k–75k46%†280
$75k–100k19%†115
$100k–150k11%†69
$150k–200k1.0%†6
$200k or more9.9%†60

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $50k–75k (+32.8 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

606 households (±196)

Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Own93%†564
Rent6.9%†42

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

29 households (±28)

Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under $75059%†17
$750–1,0000.0%0
$1,000–1,50041%†12

Home values

564 homes (±192)

Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under $150k30%†170
$150k–250k36%†204
$250k–400k28%†

Age of homes

684 homes (±199)

Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

2010 or later0.0%0
2000–20097.3%†50
1980–199932%†221

Size of homes

684 homes (±199)

Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom9.2%†63
2 bedrooms32%†216

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

608 workers (±214)

Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Drive alone76%†465
Carpool6.1%†37
Public transit0.0%0
Walk0.0%0
Bike0.0%0
Work from home16%†96
Other1.6%†10

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

512 workers (±190)

Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under 15 min8.4%†43
15–29 min49%†251
30–44 min24%†

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Pittsburgh, PA

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Fayette County, the county holding most of Bear Rocks's residents.

Fayette County has 2,485 employer establishments, 199 for every 10,000 residents (0.80× the US rate of 248; 0.84× Pennsylvania's), with 31,590 paid employees at an average annual pay of $45,226. The Census Bureau also counts 6,708 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,485; 6,708 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 199; US 248 · Pennsylvania 236
Paid employees: 31,590
Average annual pay: $45,226; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Fayette County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	236	18.9	0.91×About typical	2,941	$70,395	290
Restaurants and other eating places	187	15	0.82×About typical	3,199	$17,374	44
Specialty trade contractors	147	11.8	0.76×Fewer than typical	907	$60,718	662
Religious organizations	108	8.7	1.56×More than typical	426	$16,939	—
Limited-service restaurants	98	7.9	0.98×About typical	1,421	$15,899	18
Automotive repair and maintenance	84	6.7	1.34×More than typical	304	$39,757	192
Truck transportation	79	6.3	1.25×More than typical	739	$53,847	155
Construction of buildings	75	6	0.80×Fewer than typical	220	$49,127	228
Full-service restaurants	75	6	0.78×Fewer than typical	1,623	$18,821	17
Offices of other health practitioners	72	5.8	0.95×About typical	500	$39,752	139
Offices of physicians	65	5.2	0.81×About typical	935	$124,882	32
Gasoline stations	61	4.9	1.51×More than typical	621	$25,477	3

Rank places for an industry Open Fayette County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 124,645 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0; −100% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

25.6KFY2017
93.5KFY2018
71.1KFY2019
3.8KFY2020
1.8KFY2021
892.6FY2022
-6.5FY2024
2.9KFY2025

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania, so they do not add up across cities.

Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania's figures are part of those of Fayette County, PA ($9.8M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Bear Rocks is mostly in Fayette County.

See federal money in Fayette County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Bear Rocks, Pennsylvania is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Guy ReschenthalerR-PA-14 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 3.0%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Fayette County45100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Pittsburgh, PA84

Other cities and towns in Fayette County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

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