City · Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania

Lower Burrell is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh, PA metro area. It has 11,633 residents. Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania has a quality-of-life score of 75 out of 100 (high), ranking #3,869 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Pennsylvania it ranks #276 of 997 cities and towns. It ranks best on drought exposure (low), reading scores (high) and math scores (high). It ranks worst on new business applications (low), effective property tax rate (high) and drug overdose deaths (high).

75High

Quality-of-life score: #3,869 of 15,651 cities and towns
Pennsylvania: #276 of 997 in PA
Population: 11,633 (2020-2024)
Land area: 11 mi²
Density: 1,032.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 4244864

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 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.

Safety73#4,254/15,637
Economy52#7,503/15,631
Housing71#4,305/14,977
Health55#7,045/15,609
Healthcare74#4,010/15,650
Environment62#5,845/15,453
Education91#1,354/15,649
Infrastructure22#12,260/15,650
Community91#1,424/15,651
Leisure & amenities51#7,686/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Westmoreland 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%
96/100Pennsylvania 26%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAWestmoreland County value
Reading scores · high3.39
94/100Pennsylvania 3.10United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWestmoreland County value
Math scores · high3.45
94/100Pennsylvania 3.12United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWestmoreland County value
Mental health care shortage · low0.0
91/100Pennsylvania 1.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationWestmoreland County value
Natural hazard risk · low6.6
89/100Pennsylvania 22.42025Federal Emergency Management AgencyWestmoreland County value
Social associations · high14.4 /10k
89/100Pennsylvania 11.9 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWestmoreland County value

Weaknesses

New business applications · low8.7 /1k
12/100Pennsylvania 12.4 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauWestmoreland County value
Effective property tax rate · high1.65%
16/100Pennsylvania 1.25%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Drug overdose deaths · high24.2 /100k
18/100Pennsylvania 19.6 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataWestmoreland County value
Broadband subscriptions · low87.5%
21/100Pennsylvania 89.7%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · high8.7 µg/m³
22/100Pennsylvania 8.3 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyWestmoreland County value
Injury deaths · high108 /100k
27/100Pennsylvania 98 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWestmoreland County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedImproving
0.5 /1k (2021) → 0.8 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+51%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
29.9% (2015-2019) → 37.8% (2020-2024)
+8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
25.5% (2015-2019) → 33.1% (2020-2024)
+7.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Median household incomeImproving
$64,696 (2015-2019) → $84,602 (2020-2024)
+31%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
22.3% (2015-2019) → 27.4% (2020-2024)
+5.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
82.8% (2015-2019) → 87.5% (2020-2024)
+4.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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, Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 9 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.

Improved3

Bachelor's++7.6 points25.5% → 33.1%
Household income+31%$64,696 → $84,602
Broadband+4.7 points82.8% → 87.5%

Declined2

Inequality+0.0480.382 → 0.429
Rent / income+5.1 points22.3% → 27.4%

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	27.6 min2015-2019	26.4 min2020-2024	−1.3 min	Within the margin of error	63%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.5%2015-2019	33.1%2020-2024	+7.6 points	Improved	82%
Broadband subscriptions	82.8%2015-2019	87.5%2020-2024	+4.7 points	Improved	30%
Child poverty rate	11.2%2015-2019	10.8%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Effective property tax rate	1.86%2015-2019	1.65%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	61%
High school diploma or higher	95.3%2015-2019	96.5%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	2.3×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	73%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3822015-2019	0.4292020-2024	+0.048	Declined	17%
Median household income	$64,6962015-2019	$84,6022020-2024	+31%	Improved	57%
Poverty rate	6.2%2015-2019	7.8%2020-2024	+1.6 points	Within the margin of error	29%
Rent as share of income	22.3%2015-2019	27.4%2020-2024	+5.1 points	Declined	22%
Rent-burdened households	29.9%2015-2019	37.8%2020-2024	+8 points	Within the margin of error	29%
Unemployment rate	3.9%2015-2019	3.3%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	4.7%2015-2019	5.5%2020-2024	+0.9 points	Within the margin of error	36%

“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 Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Lower Burrell, 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, Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania itself moved −7.5 points in standing on average over the same 10 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

11,633 residents (±24)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69

Income

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

Household income

5,212 households (±235)

Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under $25k12%†611
$25k–50k19%980
$50k–75k15%777

Homes

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

Owners and renters

5,212 households (±235)

Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Own85%4,405
Rent15%807

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

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

5,456 workers (±408)

Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Drive alone79%4,326
Carpool6.2%†337
Public transit0.5%†

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 Westmoreland County, the county holding most of Lower Burrell's residents.

Westmoreland County has 8,428 employer establishments, 240 for every 10,000 residents (0.97× the US rate of 248; 1.02× Pennsylvania's), with 124,843 paid employees at an average annual pay of $51,303. The Census Bureau also counts 23,721 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 8,428; 23,721 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 240; US 248 · Pennsylvania 236
Paid employees: 124,843
Average annual pay: $51,303; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	740	21.1	1.01×About typical	7,557	$67,076	1,197
Restaurants and other eating places	586	16.7	0.91×About typical	10,982	$18,119	101
Specialty trade contractors	569	16.2	1.05×About typical	4,209	$68,715	1,973
Services to buildings and dwellings	285	8.1	1.20×About typical	1,686	$41,877	1,219
Construction of buildings	273	7.8	1.03×About typical	1,209	$56,596	701
Religious organizations	267	7.6	1.37×More than typical	1,376	$20,485	—
Offices of other health practitioners	263	7.5	1.23×About typical	1,286	$41,023	663
Full-service restaurants	261	7.4	0.97×About typical	6,035	$20,026	34
Limited-service restaurants	255	7.3	0.91×About typical	4,154	$15,382	46
Personal care services	231	6.6	1.38×More than typical	1,166	$23,936	751
Lessors of real estate	227	6.5	0.52×Fewer than typical	644	$39,742	2,372
Automotive repair and maintenance	220	6.3	1.24×About typical	1,085	$43,777	370

Rank places for an industry Open Westmoreland County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 351,233 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 $47.3K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania: $4.06 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $47.3K; +282% vs FY2025
Per resident: $4.06; US $1,994
Sole-source: 42%; US 30%
Single offer: 39%; 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

Department of Veterans Affairs$19.7K42%
National Institute of Standards and Technology$18.3K39%
Department of the Army$8,44418%
Defense Logistics Agency$8101.7%

Top recipients

GOVPLACE, LLC$18.3K39%
SMARTBOX ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY, INC$11.1K23%
LIFT & CARE SYSTEMS INCORPORATED$8,60718%
SHIELD SERVICES LLC$8,44418%
RAPID RIVET AND FASTENER CORPORATION$8101.7%

Spending by fiscal year

179.4KFY2017
176.8KFY2018
204.9KFY2019
95.3KFY2020
-29.3KFY2021
269.2KFY2022
282.6KFY2023
51.2KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Medical equipment and supplies manufacturing · 3391$19.7K42%
Computer systems design and related services · 5415$18.3K39%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$8,44418%
Hardware manufacturing · 3325$8101.7%

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 Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania, so they do not add up across cities.

Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania's figures are part of those of Westmoreland County, PA ($67.9M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.1% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Lower Burrell is mostly in Westmoreland County.

See federal money in Westmoreland 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.

Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

County

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

Westmoreland County88100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Pittsburgh, PA84

Other cities and towns in Westmoreland 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
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
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

JSON · /api/v1/places/4244864

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends