St. Marys, Pennsylvania
Area Profile
12,529 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for St. Marys, in Elk County.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 13 sourcesUnemployment is 3.7% and median household income $67,167, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Elk County, PA, which contains St. Marys, rather than for St. Marys alone.
In the public schools here, 55% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.4 students for every teacher.
Rent takes 29% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 1.9 times what its owners earn.
These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment across Elk County, PA, which contains St. Marys, is 3.7%, lower than in 74% of the 4,226 measured US cities.
Employment across Elk County, PA, which contains St. Marys, grew 1.4% over the past year, to 14,124 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsElk County, PA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $52,890 | 12th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftElk County, PA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $48,196 | 5th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$4,2622024 ACS 5-Year | $67,167 | Top 49%of 29,223 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$2,6442024 ACS 5-Year | $37,323 | Top 39%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 7.4% | Top 35%of 31,773 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 15.3 min | Top 6%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 21.4% | Top 48%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 84.5% | 74th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentElk County, PA’s figureJuly 2026 | 14,124 | Bottom 11%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)Elk County, PA’s figureJuly 2026 | −3.7% | Bottom 8%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)Elk County, PA’s figureJuly 2026 | +1.4% | Top 12%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceElk County, PA’s figureJuly 2026 | 14,674 | 11th percentileof 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 81.3% | Top 39%of 31,513 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.3% | 77th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)Elk County, PA’s figureJuly 2026 | −1.5% | Top 2%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateElk County, PA’s figureJuly 2026 | 3.7% | Top 26%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.8% | 21st percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Median household income, successive ACS releases
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Elk County, PA, which contains this city.
55% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 68% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 15.4 students for every full-time teacher across 3 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South St Marys Street El Sch | Saint Marys Area SD | 583 | 16.2 | 52% | 62% |
| St Marys Area SHS | Saint Marys Area SD | 572 | 14.3 | 72% | 77% |
| St Marys Area MS | Saint Marys Area SD | 459 | 15.8 | 36% | 66% |
97.0% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.
Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Pennsylvania’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Pennsylvania is up 51% over five years, and up 5.7% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.
Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,935 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.30% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $973, some 28% above the $762 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $973 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $38,900 a year, about 58% of the median household income here of $67,167.
The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $762 a month.
A median home at $149,000 costs 1.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $79,679, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
The figures above are measured against St. Marys’s median household income of $67,167, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Pennsylvania’s figure2026 Q2 | +5.7% | 84th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Pennsylvania’s figure2026 Q2 | +50.5% | 81st percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Pennsylvania’s figure2026 Q2 | +86.5% | 39th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year | 1.9 | Top 28%of 26,815 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 77.6% | 53rd percentileof 31,717 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±2262024 ACS 5-Year | 6,300 | 91st percentileof 32,177 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $825 | Top 9%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,283 | Top 7%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $973 | Top 5%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$652024 ACS 5-Year | $762 | Top 23%of 23,120 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$10,0842024 ACS 5-Year | $149,000 | 37th percentileof 29,111 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$882024 ACS 5-Year | $1,935 | 55th percentileof 26,440 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$5,1442024 ACS 5-Year | $79,679 | Top 49%of 27,548 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.11%2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.30% | 69th percentileof 20,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year | 29.1% | Bottom 45%of 22,950 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±1232024 ACS 5-Year | 178 | 93rd percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 2.8% | 74th percentileof 31,895 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 6.8% | 49th percentileof 31,769 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±2132024 ACS 5-Year | 608 | 91st percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.
Population has fallen 3% since 2020, to 12,361 in 2024.
New construction is predominantly single-family: of 14 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.
Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Elk County, which contains St. Marys, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $52,890, above the $48,196 of households that moved out.
At 1.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Jefferson County, PA 79 people · 15% of arrivals
- Clearfield County, PA 45 people · 8.5% of arrivals
- McKean County, PA 43 people · 8.1% of arrivals
- Cameron County, PA 37 people · 7.0% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Clearfield County, PA 83 people · 15% of departures
- Jefferson County, PA 66 people · 12% of departures
- McKean County, PA 53 people · 9.7% of departures
- Allegheny County, PA 32 people · 5.8% of departures
- Erie County, PA 31 people · 5.7% of departures
Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Elk County, PA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.
Housing units permitted per year
Weather & climate
5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 79°F and January a low of 16°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 41.9 inches.
Air quality measures a median index of 34, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| 90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year | 46 | 2024 calendar year |
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 41.9" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 16°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 79°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year | 0 | 2024 calendar year |
| Median air quality index2024 calendar year | 34 | 2024 calendar year |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 44°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Air quality
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, lightning and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 85% of it. Lightning and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.
Low or minimal exposure: lightning, landslide, winter weather, avalanche, cold wave, earthquake, tornado, ice storm, heat wave, hail, wildfire, drought, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.
Elk County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.
Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 11.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at about 12.8 per 100,000 residents in Elk County.
Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.
Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around St. Marys (Elk County) rather than St. Marys itself. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.
What this profile does not cover
Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.
- Reported crime
- Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. Either no municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — or its department did not report every month of the year. Either way there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
- Cost of living
- Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
- Taxes
- Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Anything about a specific address
- Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.
Access
3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Arnold Palmer Rgnl at 94 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 86.2% | Bottom 35%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 94 mi | Bottom 1%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 3 | Bottom 20%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year | 11.3% | Bottom 32%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arnold Palmer Rgnl | LBE | 94 mi | 8,222 ft |
| Erie Intl/Tom Ridge Fld | ERI | 96 mi | 8,420 ft |
| Elmira/Corning Rgnl | ELM | 97 mi | 8,001 ft |
Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.
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Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
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Moving to St. Marys from somewhere else?
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Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Safety | U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics Provisional county-level mortality by intent | March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Climate | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System Daily Air Quality Index by county | 2024 calendar year |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA National Weather Service National Weather Service current conditions | Live observation, read when the page opens |
Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.
ZIP codes in St. Marys
1 ZIP areaEvery ZIP area in St. Marys with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track St. Marys closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.
| ZIP | Population | Median household income | Median home value | Area Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15857 | 12,736 | $67,662 | $150,100 | — |