Buying a home in Monroeville, Murrysville, Plum or Oakmont: what to know before you buy

Four towns, four different feels

Monroeville. A blend of city and suburb: the hospital, the shopping and the restaurants along Route 22, with neighborhoods tucked in behind them and the Turnpike and the Parkway East right there.

Murrysville. Bigger lots, more trees and a quieter pace, with over 1,200 acres of parkland and the Westmoreland Heritage Trail. It’s also home to the country’s first commercial natural gas well, drilled in 1878.

Plum. Newer subdivisions and room to spread out, with Boyce Park on the Monroeville line.

Oakmont. A walkable river town with its own main street on Allegheny River Boulevard. Oakmont Country Club, host of ten U.S. Opens, is just up the hill, with the Turnpike running through the middle of the course.

Three things to check before you buy east of the city

Mine subsidence. Much of western Pennsylvania sits over old coal mines, and a standard homeowners policy doesn’t cover damage from the ground settling into one. The state runs its own coverage for this, at about 27 cents per $1,000 a year, so roughly $80 a year on $300,000 of coverage. Check any address on the state’s mine subsidence risk map before you buy. It’s one of the cheapest protections in homeownership.

Well and septic. Not every house out here is on public water and sewer, especially on larger lots. If the house you like has a well or a septic system, test the water and inspect the septic during the inspection period. Some loan programs require it, and replacing a septic system costs far more than inspecting one.

Flood zones near the river. Houses close to the Allegheny can fall in a FEMA flood zone, and when they do the lender requires flood insurance. Check the flood map before you offer, not after the appraisal.

Transfer tax: Monroeville and Murrysville run higher

Monroeville and Murrysville each take 1% where most municipalities take ½%. Estimate it for a specific address with the PA transfer tax calculator, or read who pays PA transfer tax.

The three Allegheny County towns

Monroeville, Plum and Oakmont land within a few dollars of each other once county, municipal and school rates are added up.

County 6.43 in each. Municipal and 2026-27 school rates: Monroeville 5.50 and Gateway 25.2718; Oakmont 4.95 and Riverview 25.8294; Plum 6.63 and Plum Borough 24.619. Assessment at the price times 49.3%, before the county homestead exclusion of about $116 a year.

Murrysville: across the county line

Westmoreland County’s last countywide reassessment was in 1972, so assessments are small and millage is large. Its common level ratio is 8.7% (a factor of 11.49 for July 2026 to June 2027), which puts the planning assessment on a $500,000 purchase at about $43,516.

Franklin Regional’s rate is from Westmoreland County’s 2026 millage listing; it was 115.86 for 2025-26.

At the same price, Murrysville runs about $182 a month less in tax than Monroeville next door, and the transfer tax is the same 2.5%. On a 1972 assessment one mill is worth about $44 a year on a $500,000 house, so Franklin Regional’s 4-mill increase last year was about $174 a year, not the jump the number suggests.

The same $500,000 house in each area

Property tax counts in your debt-to-income ratio and your escrow, so it changes the price you qualify for as well as what you pay each month. These are the areas my Pittsburgh clients buy in most.

Assessment at the price times each county’s common level ratio, before any homestead exclusion. Planning figures, not bills: an older, lower assessment that is never appealed produces a smaller bill.

Other Pittsburgh areas: Squirrel Hill and Shadyside · North Allegheny · South Fayette · Moon Township · Cranberry Township · All of Pittsburgh

Figures use 2026 county, municipal and school millage and the common level ratios published for July 2026 to June 2027. They are planning estimates, not tax bills. Assessment appeals are decided by the county board and no outcome is promised. Transfer tax is split between buyer and seller by custom; the split is negotiable and set by your contract.