Cost of Living in Johnstown
Johnstown combines genuinely, dramatically affordable housing with a comparatively modest combined state-plus-local tax burden -- though this record discloses a real, unusually wide property-tax-rate spread across sources.
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Learn moreAmong the most affordable housing this project has documented in Pennsylvania
Johnstown's home-purchase prices ran $47,000 (Houzeo's median) to $98,176 (Zillow's average, down 12.3% YoY) in 2026 figures -- a real, wide, disclosed spread, but genuinely, dramatically below both the Pennsylvania statewide and national medians at every point in that range.
Rent runs approximately 56% below the national average
Rent figures ranged from $550 to $800/month for a one-bedroom depending on source -- consistently well below the national average, per Zumper.
Pennsylvania's flat state tax plus a modest 1% Johnstown municipal EIT
Pennsylvania's real flat 3.07% state income tax applies, alongside a comparatively modest 1% City of Johnstown municipal Earned Income Tax, collected by Berkheimer Tax Administrator -- confirm the added school-district EIT component directly, since this record could not independently verify it this pass.
An unusually wide, honestly disclosed property-tax-rate spread
Cambria County's effective property tax rate carries a real, UNUSUALLY WIDE spread across sources reviewed this pass -- approximately 1.19%-1.34% per the more plausible sources, versus outlier citations as high as approximately 13.16% this record flags as likely data-quality artifacts rather than adopting as fact.
Key takeaways
- Johnstown's housing costs carry a real, disclosed spread ($47,000-$98,176) -- dramatically affordable at every point.
- Rent runs approximately 56% below the national average.
- Pennsylvania's flat 3.07% state tax plus a 1% Johnstown municipal EIT applies -- confirm the school-district component directly.
- Cambria County's property tax rate carries an unusually wide, disclosed spread this record does not resolve to one number.
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