Cost of Living & Housing in Oil City
Oil City's cost of living pairs dramatically affordable housing and Pennsylvania's simple flat state income tax with a real, disclosed above-average property tax rate and an honestly disclosed gap in this pass's local EIT research.
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Learn moreDramatically affordable housing
Oil City's median listing price ran approximately $125,000 as of August 2026, and a separate June 2026 citation put the median sale price at $134,927 -- both far below the Pennsylvania statewide average home value of $294,099. This record flags the sale-price citation's stated +92.8% year-over-year change as a likely small-sample statistical artifact rather than a durable trend (base record).
An above-average property tax rate
Oil City's median effective property tax rate ran 3.72% per Ownwell -- genuinely above both the Pennsylvania statewide median (~2.75%) and the national median (~1.02%) (base record).
An honestly disclosed local EIT research gap
Berkheimer Tax Administrator is confirmed as the Act 32 collector for the Oil City Area School District and Venango County Tax Collection District, but this record could not independently confirm Oil City's own precise combined EIT percentage this pass. Pennsylvania's flat 3.07% state income tax and 6% base sales tax apply regardless; confirm the local EIT rate directly via the PA DCED's PSD Code lookup tool (base record).
A real, honest post-industrial economic backdrop
Pennzoil (relocated to Houston, 1965) and Quaker State (relocated to Dallas, 1995) were both real, historically headquartered in the region -- a genuine driver of the area's economic decline that shapes today's genuinely affordable cost of living (base record).
Key takeaways
- Oil City's median listing price (~$125,000) runs far below the Pennsylvania statewide average.
- The effective property tax rate (3.72%) runs above Pennsylvania and national medians.
- Oil City's precise local EIT rate could not be confirmed this pass -- confirm directly via the PA DCED lookup tool.
- Oil City's genuine affordability connects directly to its honest, disclosed post-industrial economic history.
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