Pittsburgh population stable, outlying suburbs growing, per new census estimates

The greater Pittsburgh region is still declining, with suburbs closest to the city limits and the Mon Valley shrinking the most, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Still, new data breakdowns show a number of municipalities saw impressive growth and other surprises.

The city of Pittsburgh’s population has remained stable since the start of the pandemic.

The census recently released municipal breakdowns of 2022 population estimates, and they showed that the city of Pittsburgh lost just 60 residents out of nearly 303,000 people, a negligible decline of less than 0.02%. The data shows 2022 estimates compared to 2022 data, according to Penn State Harrisburg’s Pennsylvania State Data Center.

Pittsburgh’s 2022 population stands at 302,898, and was population neutral, according to the state data center.

Chris Briem, regional economist at Pitt’s Center for Social and Urban Research, said the municipal breakdowns are based mostly on building permit data and applied to previously released county estimates.

He said historically, there have been some anomalies with city of Pittsburgh data, but that it appears those have now been cleared up. Briem said the city is likely not shrinking as fast as previously assumed.

“They did a fairly decent revision of last year’s population estimates,” he said. “I don’t think the changes reflect any big changes. We probably didn’t shrink as much as we thought.”

That stability didn’t transfer to the city’s immediate suburbs, however.

Every suburb that borders Pittsburgh lost population, with the exception of Homestead, which added just three new residents. The vast majority of suburbs that border the city of Pittsburgh shrunk by greater than 2%.

Overall, Allegheny County dropped by 12,192 people between July 2021 and July 2022, the 10th biggest population loss among large counties in the nation.

The municipal data also showcased areas of growth in Southwestern Pennsylvania, which appear to be concentrated in outlying communities in southern Butler County, northern Washington County, and the Westmoreland County communities of Penn Township, Hempfield, and Rostraver Township.

The region’s North Hills, which encompasses Northwest Allegheny County and Southern Butler County, continued to lead in population growth.

Cranberry Township in Butler saw 868 new residents and Pine Township increased by 601 people. Briem noted the growth in the North Hills is also expanding farther and farther away from the city center, with communities like Jackson and Middlesex townships seeing significant growth.

“The narrative that ‘everyone is moving back to the city’ wasn’t quite as true as other people thought,” said Briem. “Places that have room for new, suburban homes are seeing real growth.“

Briem said the region’s true bright spot in population growth is Slippery Rock. Both the borough and its surrounding township exploded with new residents.

The borough, home to Slippery Rock University, added 422 new residents, and Slippery Rock Township increased in population by 1,562 people. The township had the largest percentage increase (+18.9%) of any municipality in the state.

Overall, Pennsylvania saw 750 municipalities increase in population, compared to 1,745 that declined and 77 that were population neutral. Of the growing municipalities, only 37 were within the greater Pittsburgh metro area. The vast majority of the state’s population growth is happening in Southcentral and Eastern Pennsylvania.

The Allegheny Valley mostly saw communities in decline, including Penn Hills, which lost 941 residents, the most in the Pittsburgh region. Plum Township lost 501 residents, and Harrison lost 264.

Some communities in the valley did grow, however. Buffalo Township added 174 residents, and Indiana Township increased by 86 residents.

Westmoreland County had four municipalities grow since 2020, but the county largely declined.

Penn Township added 427 residents, and Hempfield increased by 300 people. Murrysville lost the most people of any Westmoreland County municipality, decreasing by 262 residents.

The region’s South Hills appear to be split into fast growing communities and fast shrinking. Mt. Lebanon and Bethel Park are among the fastest shrinking communities in the region, losing Mt. 856 and 796 residents, respectively.

Growth in the South Hills almost completely lies just south of the Washington County border. North Strabane Township added 606 residents and Chartiers Township grew by 513 people. Even Washington City increased by 307 new residents.

Every community in Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Mon Valley decreased in population, except for Rostraver Township in Westmoreland County, which added 27 people since 2020, and Homestead in Allegheny County.

Many Mon Valley municipalities lost hundreds of residents each, led by West Mifflin (-453), McKeesport (-404), and Elizabeth (-319).

California Borough in Washington County, home to a West Penn University campus, was the fastest shrinking municipality in the Pittsburgh metro area by percentage, losing 5.6% of its population since 2020.