Fayette Country, Pennsylvania, Housing Market Analysis - EERE

Fayette County
Housing Market Analysis
Demand for housing – and subsequent services and amenities – drives the
need for tax revenue. Should the county’s potential as a bedroom community
be realized, taxes may rise to be able to meet increased demand for services.
ii. Public Education
The quality of public education is an important locational factor to families
with children who are considering a housing investment. New employers are
particularly concerned about the quality of public education because it affects
their ability to recruit qualified employees from areas outside of the county.
Developers want to build for-sale housing in school districts that are
perceived to be superior in quality.
The public perception of school districts in the county varies widely.
However, both PSSA and SAT test scores for all school districts in the
county fall within a fairly narrow range. The table below highlights the SAT
scores for each high school serving the county. Only 104 points separate the
highest from the lowest score.
Conventional wisdom would suggest that school districts with higher budgets
and fewer families in poverty produce higher test scores. But in Fayette
County, there appears to be very little correlation between test scores,
expenditure per student, and households in poverty. Although general
perceptions of the school districts vary widely, the statistics do not bear out
the anecdotal differences. Personal experiences passed by word of mouth
may be the origin of such perceptions. But, SAT and PSSA test scores refute
the perception that some school districts are of lesser quality.
Table 1-2
School District Quality Indicators
2003 SAT
Scores
2002
Expenditure
per Student
2000
Average
Housing
Cost
2002 Student
Low Income
Rates
Albert Gallatin 1042 $ 7,787 $ 59,513 55.0%
Laurel Highlands 1034 $ 8,054 $ 74,050 41.9%
Southmoreland 1029 $ 7,384 $ 55,200 35.2%
Statewide Average 1026 $ 8,295 - -
Frazier 989 $ 8,433 $ 68,800 29.9%
Belle Vernon 984 $ 7,392 $ 59,500 24.7%
Brownsville 977 $ 8,069 $ 44,200 88.6%
Connellsville 959 $ 8,406 $ 63,480 53.5%
Uniontown 938 $ 8,923 $ 63,938 56.6%
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Standard & Poor's School Evaluation
Services; PA Department of Education; U.S. Bureau of the Census
K. Commuting patterns
Another interesting aspect of Fayette County is that many of its workforce residents
commute to employment destinations outside of the county. Although 35,915
workers both live and work in Fayette County, 20,450 residents leave the county to
work. In contrast, only 6,199 people come into the county from other areas to
June 2005
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