Borough · Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Plum, Pennsylvania

Plum is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh, PA metro area. It has 26,723 residents. Plum, Pennsylvania has a quality-of-life score of 87 out of 100 (very high), ranking #1,984 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Pennsylvania it ranks #123 of 997 cities and towns. It ranks best on child poverty rate (low), reading scores (high) and math scores (high). It ranks worst on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (high), median Air Quality Index (high) and average commute time (high).

87Very high

Quality-of-life score: #1,984 of 15,651 cities and towns
Pennsylvania: #123 of 997 in PA
Population: 26,723 (2020-2024)
Land area: 29 mi²
Density: 935.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 4261536

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.

Safety37#9,756/15,637
Economy89#1,680/15,631
Housing79#3,207/14,977
Health70#4,718/15,609
Healthcare93#1,044/15,650
Environment16#12,988/15,453
Education98#359/15,649
Infrastructure76#3,697/15,650
Community91#1,325/15,651
Leisure & amenities83#2,687/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Plum, Pennsylvania ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Allegheny 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

Child poverty rate · low2.4%
98/100Pennsylvania 15.3%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Reading scores · high3.39
94/100Pennsylvania 3.10United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAllegheny County value
Math scores · high3.45
93/100Pennsylvania 3.12United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAllegheny County value
Distance to an emergency room · low3.1 mi
91/100Pennsylvania 5.0 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesAllegheny County value
Poverty rate · low3.6%
91/100Pennsylvania 11.6%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Mental health care shortage · low0.0
91/100Pennsylvania 1.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationAllegheny County value

Weaknesses

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · high9.1 µg/m³
10/100Pennsylvania 8.3 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyAllegheny County value
Median Air Quality Index · high52
12/100Pennsylvania 432025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyAllegheny County value
Average commute time · high31.1 min
14/100Pennsylvania 26.3 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Drug overdose deaths · high27.5 /100k
14/100Pennsylvania 19.6 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataAllegheny County value
Time spent in the emergency room · high213 min
16/100Pennsylvania 191 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesAllegheny County value
Effective property tax rate · high1.64%
16/100Pennsylvania 1.25%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090

Trends

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

Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
36.8% (2015-2019) → 45.0% (2020-2024)
+8.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
New homes permittedWorsening
1.5 /1k (2021) → 1.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−33%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
88.1% (2015-2019) → 94.0% (2020-2024)
+5.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$78,709 (2015-2019) → $98,705 (2020-2024)
+25%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
36.6% (2015-2019) → 40.4% (2020-2024)
+3.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.0× (2015-2019) → 2.3× (2020-2024)
+18%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

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, Plum, Pennsylvania improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 moved within the margin of error and 1 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++8.2 points36.8% → 45.0%
Household income+25%$78,709 → $98,705
Broadband+5.9 points88.1% → 94.0%

Declined1

Price / income+0.4×2.0× → 2.3×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Plum, Pennsylvania between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	29.8 min2015-2019	31.1 min2020-2024	+1.3 min	Within the margin of error	34%
Bachelor's degree or higher	36.8%2015-2019	45.0%2020-2024	+8.2 points	Improved	84%
Broadband subscriptions	88.1%2015-2019	94.0%2020-2024	+5.9 points	Improved	37%
Effective property tax rate	1.99%2015-2019	1.64%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Little change	80%
High school diploma or higher	95.9%2015-2019	97.8%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Home price to income ratio	2.0×2015-2019	2.3×2020-2024	+0.4×	Declined	58%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3822015-2019	0.3862020-2024	+0.004	Within the margin of error	47%
Median household income	$78,7092015-2019	$98,7052020-2024	+25%	Improved	45%
Poverty rate	3.9%2015-2019	3.6%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Public transit commuters	1.9%2015-2019	1.7%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	22%
Rent as share of income	23.4%2015-2019	25.7%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	37%
Rent-burdened households	36.6%2015-2019	40.4%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Unemployment rate	3.0%2015-2019	2.8%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	2.5%2015-2019	3.8%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	31%

“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 Plum, Pennsylvania five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Plum, 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, Plum, Pennsylvania itself moved −2.4 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

26,723 residents (±44)

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

10,885 households (±316)

Plum, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under $25k7.8%844
$25k–50k12%1,308
$50k–75k16%1,693

Homes

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

Owners and renters

10,885 households (±316)

Plum, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Own81%8,786
Rent19%2,099

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

14,076 workers (±681)

Plum, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Drive alone69%9,708
Carpool4.5%631
Public transit1.7%†235

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 Allegheny County, the county holding most of Plum's residents.

Allegheny County has 33,812 employer establishments, 275 for every 10,000 residents (1.11× the US rate of 248; 1.17× Pennsylvania's), with 709,774 paid employees at an average annual pay of $67,827. The Census Bureau also counts 95,928 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 33,812; 95,928 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 275; US 248 · Pennsylvania 236
Paid employees: 709,774
Average annual pay: $67,827; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	3,281	26.7	1.28×More than typical	56,544	$81,487	5,146
Restaurants and other eating places	2,554	20.8	1.13×About typical	47,124	$21,860	410
Specialty trade contractors	1,711	13.9	0.90×About typical	20,285	$71,677	5,217
Offices of physicians	1,255	10.2	1.58×More than typical	27,370	$106,824	1,156
Lessors of real estate	1,244	10.1	0.82×About typical	7,200	$66,959	10,358
Limited-service restaurants	1,101	9	1.12×About typical	16,647	$18,540	196
Full-service restaurants	1,088	8.9	1.15×About typical	25,572	$24,702	142
Personal care services	952	7.7	1.62×More than typical	5,203	$28,923	2,860
Construction of buildings	880	7.2	0.95×About typical	7,607	$81,294	2,052
Offices of other health practitioners	865	7	1.16×About typical	4,625	$49,182	2,703
Services to buildings and dwellings	863	7	1.04×About typical	7,652	$41,262	3,875
Management, scientific and technical consulting	841	6.8	1.02×About typical	7,341	$110,473	4,809

Rank places for an industry Open Allegheny County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 1,228,911 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 $32.6K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Plum, Pennsylvania: $1.22 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $32.6K; +82% vs FY2025
Per resident: $1.22; US $1,994
Sole-source: 100%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

National Institutes of Health$32.6K100%

Top recipients

MEDBROKERS, A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY$32.6K100%

Spending by fiscal year

224.9KFY2017
281.5KFY2018
8KFY2019
113.3KFY2020
69.7KFY2021
184.8KFY2022
70.3KFY2023
60.6KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345$32.6K100%

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Plum, Pennsylvania

MEDBROKERS MONITOR UPGRADE MEDBROKERS LLC:1337103 [26-007711]$32.6K
MEDBROKERS, A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY· Allegheny County, PA· Health & medical· Aug 14, 2026 – Aug 14, 2026· 75N98026P01319

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 Plum, Pennsylvania, so they do not add up across cities.

Plum, Pennsylvania's figures are part of those of Allegheny County, PA ($7B 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: Plum is mostly in Allegheny County.

See federal money in Allegheny 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.

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

House

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.

Allegheny County83100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Pittsburgh, PA84

Other cities and towns in Allegheny 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/4261536

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends