Homer City, PA (15748) Real Estate Guide: Prices, Schools, and the Power Plant’s Redevelopment

Home prices and the market right now

Three independent sources price the typical home in ZIP 15748 between $132,100 and $150,000 as of mid-2026.

None of these four numbers is wrong. The Census figure averages five years of resident-reported values, which lags a small, fast-moving market. ATTOM blends an automated model with recent closings. Redfin reports one month of actual closed sales. A buyer pricing a specific listing should expect it to land closer to the ATTOM or Redfin range than the Census figure.

Price per square foot runs $98 with a typical 35 days on market, per Redfin’s most recent report. ATTOM separately records an average single-family home age of 70 years and average size of 1,536 square feet across the ZIP’s roughly 3,192 residential properties, with 85 changing hands in the trailing twelve months.

ZIP 15748 vs. Homer City Borough: two populations, one address

ZIP code 15748 covers about 6,661 people. Homer City Borough, the incorporated town most descriptions of “Homer City” actually mean, has 1,778 residents.

The ZIP-level figure comes from Census ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates (zip-codes.com); the borough figure comes from Census Reporter’s borough profile, drawing on the 2020 Census and ACS. Median household income across the ZIP is $65,517 (ACS 2019-2023 5-year). A price or demographic statistic labeled simply “Homer City” needs a stated geography before it means anything for underwriting or comps.

Does ZIP code 15748 cover all of Homer City?No. ZIP 15748 spans roughly 72.7 square miles across Center Township and neighboring areas and holds about 6,661 people. Homer City Borough, the actual incorporated town, has 1,778 residents. A “Homer City” statistic without a stated geography could describe either population, and they differ by nearly 4 times.

The gas-fired power plant and data center campus: confirmed and projected facts

The coal-fired Homer City Generating Station shut down for good on July 1, 2023. Its site is now a $10 billion, up-to-4.5-gigawatt natural gas power plant and data center campus under active construction, on the same 3,200-plus-acre footprint.

Timeline so far

The timeline has already slipped once. HCR and Kiewit’s original April 2025 announcement pointed to power production by 2027; by March 2026, public statements from the company put first power in early 2028 and full construction completion in 2029.

Jobs and capacity claims

HCR’s FAQ page states the project will generate more than 10,000 direct on-site construction jobs and about 1,000 total direct and indirect permanent positions in technology, operations, and energy infrastructure. That permanent-jobs figure has moved: in a May 2026 briefing for Sen. Dave McCormick, CEO Corey Hessen said the completed plant will employ about 200 full-time workers.

Land use near the site

Not everyone near the campus is negotiating from a position of choice. Brian Neal, fourth-generation farmer at Neal Farms in Center Township, has already sold three parcels bordering the former plant to the redevelopment project and says he won’t sell more: “They’re not making any more farm land.” His remaining acreage runs along Two Lick Creek, part of the borough’s long-running effort to clean up acid mine drainage.

Is Homer City, PA a good place to invest in real estate right now?It depends on time horizon and risk tolerance, not on a single yes or no. Prices sit well below the Indiana County average ($155,656, Zillow, April 2026), and a confirmed $10 billion capital project is under construction nearby. First power isn’t expected until early 2028, though, the school district’s tax guarantee only covers “the transition” with no stated end date, and permanent on-site jobs (about 200 confirmed) are far fewer than early marketing suggested. Investors betting on multi-year upside have more support than investors expecting a near-term price jump.

Schools: ratings and the funding question

Homer-Center Junior/Senior High School carries a GreatSchools rating of 7 out of 10, a 95% graduation rate, and an average SAT score of 1100, with 405 students at a 14:1 student-teacher ratio; 57% of students test proficient in math and 62% in reading (Homes.com school profile). The K-12 district enrolls 774 students total.

The more consequential number for buyers is fiscal, not academic. Before its 2023 closure, the Homer City plant paid the Homer-Center School District about $750,000 a year in property taxes, roughly 4% of the district’s $20 million budget, according to Superintendent Ralph Cecere (WESA, July 2024). A decade earlier the district collected closer to $1.4 million from the plant, until an ownership-driven tax reassessment cut that figure roughly in half (PublicSource, May 2025). The district has been told this tax allocation continues during the transition to the new plant; what happens after the new facility is fully assessed and operating isn’t addressed by that assurance. During the 2023-24 school year the district went without heat in its elementary building for eight days after an aging pipe failed, and chose a cheaper patch over a full system replacement specifically because future tax revenue was uncertain (WESA, July 2024).

Will the new data center project raise property taxes or home values in Homer City?Not yet, and not confirmed either direction. HCR’s outreach materials describe the project as a revenue boost for schools and the broader community, but no dollar figure or timeline has been published, and the school district’s guarantee only covers the current plant’s legacy tax payment during construction. Any tax or value uplift tied to the completed facility is a projection, not a filed assessment.

Housing stock and what to check before buying

ATTOM records an average single-family home age of 70 years across ZIP 15748, which in 2026 points to a typical construction date in the mid-1950s or earlier. That age profile changes the inspection checklist more than the sale price does.

• Wiring: homes built before the 1960s may still carry knob-and-tube or early aluminum branch wiring; request an electrical inspection specifically, not just a general home inspection.
• Sewer laterals: cast iron or clay lines are common at this housing age and are a frequent source of post-purchase surprise costs.
• Water source: confirm whether a specific parcel is on municipal water and sewer or well and septic; rural parcels near Center Township vary block to block.
• Foundation and grading: the area’s mining and coal-processing history means some lots have disturbed subsurface conditions; a foundation inspection is worth the cost even on a home that looks structurally sound.

One data gap worth naming directly: no independently sourced breakdown of Homer City’s housing stock by decade of construction was found during this research pass. ATTOM’s 70-year average age is the best available figure; a full year-built distribution would need a direct pull from Census DP04 tables at the ZCTA level, listed as an open task in the SEO package below.

• Treating the Census median as today’s price: the ACS figure averages five years of resident estimates, not current transactions.
• Assuming the 1,000-job figure is already in place: the confirmed number is about 200 full-time plant workers; the larger figure depends on tenants not yet signed.
• Comparing ZIP-level and borough-level statistics as if they described one population: they differ by nearly 4 times in headcount.

How old are most homes in Homer City, and what should I check before buying?The average single-family home in ZIP 15748 is about 70 years old (ATTOM), meaning most were built by the mid-1950s. Prioritize an electrical inspection, a sewer-lateral check, and, for rural or creek-adjacent parcels, a water-source and acid-mine-drainage question before writing an offer.

Comparable towns nearby

Clymer is the closer economic mirror of Homer City’s recent past, another former coal town with a comparably small population and no announced industrial replacement, priced $37,000 to $54,000 below Homer City’s current range. Marion Center and Cherry Tree, neither carrying a redevelopment story of its own, sit closer to or above Homer City’s range, suggesting the market hasn’t fully priced in either the risk or the upside specific to this ZIP code’s gas plant project.

Who Homer City fits, and who it doesn’t

A buyer’s answer here tracks the redevelopment’s own uncertainty: value-focused buyers, multi-year investors, retirees or remote workers prioritizing low cost of living, and contractors working the project directly have the clearest fit. Buyers needing walkable amenities or nightlife, move-in-ready newer construction, or price certainty inside the next one to two years will find less to like while the plant’s first-power date keeps moving.

The Indiana County average, by contrast, sits at $155,656, up 2.2% over the past year as of April 2026 (Zillow).