Penn Hills is a township with home rule status in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 41,059 as of the 2020 census. A suburb of Pittsburgh, Penn Hills is the second-largest municipality in Allegheny County.
History
In 1788, when Allegheny County was formed, the area now known as Penn Hills was part of Pitt Township. On January 16, 1850, Robert Logan, Thomas Davison and Daniel Bieber were appointed by the court to review the boundaries of a new township to be formed from the northern part of Wilkins. This new township was formed and named Adams, until August 1850 when the action of the court was reconsidered to change the name to McNair Township. The name was again changed to Penn Township by Act of Assembly and approved on February 10, 1851. In 1958 Penn Township became Penn Hills Township, and in 1976 Penn Hills became a home rule municipality. The earliest population was given in 1860, when there were 1,821 people living in Penn Township. The population grew to 2,685 in 1870 and 3,291 in 1880.
Geography
Penn Hills is located at (40.476218, -79.833302). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.40%, is water. Penn Hills uses the ZIP codes of 15235 and 15147; and the community is within area codes 412 and 878.
Communities
Neighborhoods within Penn Hills include Blackridge, Churchill Valley, Crescent Hills, Eastmont, Eastvue, Laketon Heights, Lincoln Park, Milltown, Nadine, Newfield, North Bessemer, Penn Ridge, Point Breeze, Rosedale, Sandy Creek, Shannon Heights, Universal, Valemont Heights, Gascola, Shadow Shuttle, Frankstown West, Frankstown Estates, Eastwood, and Verona Hilltop.
Streams
Penn Hills is bordered to the north by the Allegheny River. In addition, the waterways listed below flow through the Municipality: Plum Creek flows through the Municipality, creating the border with Plum Borough. The stream passes by North Bessemer Field, Milltown Community Park and Penn Hills Community Park before briefly entering into Oakmont and emptying into the Allegheny River. Sandy Creek starts near the intersection of Verona Road and Graham Boulevard Extension and parallels Verona Road to its intersection with Sandy Creek Road where the stream turns and follows the road until it empties into the Allegheny River. Thompson Run begins near Linton Middle School and runs along Stotler Road, Frey Road and Thompson Run Road where it forms the Municipality's border with Monroeville. It eventually flows into the Monongahela River. Quigley Run forms near the Green Oaks Country Club and passes under Allegheny River Boulevard (PA 130) before directly emptying into the Allegheny River. Shades Run, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, begins off of Tyler Road and flows under Lincoln Road, forming the Municipality's border with the City of Pittsburgh. It crosses under Allegheny River Boulevard (PA 130) before directly emptying into the Allegheny River. Duffs Run begins along Long Road in the Churchill Valley neighborhood before winding through the former Churchill Valley Country Club and running into Churchill and Wilkins Township before joining Thompson Run.
Surrounding communities
Penn Hills has ten land borders, including Verona and Oakmont to the north, Plum Borough to the east and northeast, Monroeville to the southeast, Wilkins Township, Churchill and Wilkinsburg to the south and the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of East Hills to the south, Homewood North to the southwest and Lincoln–Lemington–Belmar to the west.
The Allegheny River borders Penn Hills to the northwest with two neighborhoods running adjacent across the way: O'Hara Township and the borough of Blawnox.
Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 42,329 people living in the township. The population density was . There were 20,355 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 60.03% (25,398) White, 37.03% (15,668) African American, 0.98% (409) Asian, 0.01% (4) Pacific Islander, 0.55% from (232) other races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.41% (598) of the population. There is a sizable Italian American population in the township.
There were 19,490 households, out of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.9% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.91.