Pittsburgh Rankings

2007 Rankings

• Most Livable

  Pittsburgh has been ranked #1 Most Livable City in America by Places Rated Almanac. The 379 metropolitan areas surveyed were evaluated in nine categories: housing affordability (cost of living), transportation, jobs, education, climate, crime, health care, recreation and ambience (museums, performing arts, restaurants and historical districts).

• Affordable

  Pittsburgh is among America's Ten Least Overpriced Real Estate Markets according to Forbes.com. Using the 40 largest metro areas and data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the U.S. Census Bureau and the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, rankings were based on the market's median home prices. Pittsburgh is ranked sixth.

• Home Sweet Pittsburgh

  Pittsburgh has been named to Relocate-America's 100 Top Places to Live. The list ranks cities using a combination of feedback from people who live and work in the communities and statistics like education, employment, economy, crime, parks, recreation, and housing.

• Creative

  Pittsburgh is rated one of the five best places for members of the so-called "Creative Class"—a segment that fuels cultural and economic vitality—in a study released by Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine in cooperation with former Carnegie Mellon University professor Richard Florida, who developed the "creative class" concept.

• Relocation Favorite

  Worldwide ERC and Primacy Relocation listed the Pittsburgh region as the sixth best metropolitan area for relocating families. The ranking is based on 50 metropolitan areas with populations of 1.25 million or more.

• Home Improvement Mecca

  Pittsburgh has the second-best home improvement professionals, according to ServiceMagic.com. The ranking was based on results of a survey of 66,000 customers who said they would recommend the professional they hired to a friend or relative.

• Cleanest

  Pittsburgh has been ranked among the top 10 of the World's Cleanest Cities by Forbes magazine. The magazine recognized the city's transformation stating, "though formerly a steel capital of the U.S., it has turned around and is now into healthcare, education, robotics, technology and financial services."

• City Of The Future

  Pittsburgh has been named one of North America's top three Cities of the Future by Foreign Direct Land Investment magazine, an affiliate of the Financial Times, London. The rankings are based on a variety of criteria, and Pittsburgh topped the list of large cities in cost effectiveness, which included business space rental and purchase prices, salaries and energy costs.

• Courteous Drivers

  Pittsburgh drivers are the second most courteous drivers in the nation according to AutoVantage, a Connecticut-based automobile membership club offering travel services and roadside assistance.

• Great Ballpark

  PNC Park is listed among the Top Ten Best Ballparks in the nation by FOXSports.com. The park is touted for being the best of the new "retro" parks for its "great sightlines, terrific view of downtown and comfy without sacrificing ambience," states Dayn Perry of FOXSports.

• Find Love And Keep It

  The Pittsburgh area has been rated the No. 1 Place in the Country for Baby Boomers to find love and keep it. The study, conducted by Sperling's BestPlaces, used Census data on marriage and divorce rates among the 45-65 set.

  2006 Rankings

• Green

  The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh received the Silver LEED Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council in March 2006, making it the largest Silver LEED-certified museum in the country. The Museum also received the 2006 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honor Award for Architecture. Design Architect Koning Eizenberg Architecture of Santa Monica, CA, and Executive Architect Perkins Eastman of Pittsburgh, PA, received this honor for excellence in architecture—considered the highest recognition of works in the field—for the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh's expansion, completed in November 2004.

• Artsy

  Pittsburgh has been ranked the third-best mid-sized city for art lovers, according to readers of AmericanStyle Magazine. The city was noted for its four Carnegie Museums, as well as its "emerging glass" status.

• Smart

  Pittsburgh has been ranked one of the smartest places to live in America by Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine. Based largely on its affordability, cultural and leisure activities, education options and quality housing, Pittsburgh is the ninth smartest place to set down roots. The magazine studied data that also included the quality of healthcare, crime rates, weather and commute times in an effort to determine the 50 most fiscally sensible cities in America in which to live. The magazine had positive comments about Pittsburgh: "Currently undergoing a renaissance, this hidden gem has distinctive neighborhoods, tree-lined streets, glittering skyscrapers, upscale shops and a diversified economy."

• Urban Adventure

  Pittsburgh has been ranked Top Urban Adventure Town in the USA by National Geographic Adventure Magazine. Pittsburgh is among the magazine's "Where to Live and Play: 31 Adventure Towns." "Thanks to a 15-year urban renewal program, the city has been revived, morphing from a stronghold of industry into a place that better reflects the surrounding Allegheny Mountains. This sort of integration into the natural setting is precisely what makes it a top-notch adventure city."

• Children + Art

  Child magazine has ranked the Carnegie Museum of Art number five in the nation and one of the ten best art museums for kids. In a first-ever data-driven survey to assess the family friendliness of American art museums, criteria taken into consideration for the ranking were the tours, kids’ and family classes, educational programs for school groups, staffing, accessibility of the exhibitions to kids, and other factors that add up to create a memorable museum experience for families.