Rankin is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, south of Pittsburgh on the Monongahela River. The borough was named after Thomas Rankin, a local landowner. Early in the 20th century, Rankin specialized in manufacturing steel and wire goods. The population increased from 3,775 in 1900 to 7,470 in 1940, and has since declined to 2,122 as of the 2010 census.
Geography
Rankin is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of, of which is land and, or 12.00%, is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,315 people, 1,002 households, and 603 families residing in the borough. The population density was 5,299.5 people per square mile. There were 1,126 housing units at an average density of 2,577.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the borough was 27.99% White, 69.33% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.39% from other races, and 1.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.35% of the population. 6.8% were of Italian and 5.2% Slovak ancestry according to Census 2000. 97.8% spoke English, 1.2% Spanish and 1.0% Slovak as their first language. The census of 2010 revealed there were 2,122 people residing in Rankin. The population density was 4,858.7 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the borough was 18.05% White, 80.25% African American, 0.47% Asian, 0.99% from other races, and Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.24% of the population. There were 1,002 households, out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 20.5% were married couplesliving together, 34.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.8% were non-families. 37.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.02. In the borough the population was spread out, with 32.7% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 23.2% from 25 to 44, 18.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 68.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 59.7 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $13,832, and the median income for a family was $18,625. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $21,302 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $9,946. About 40.2% of families and 45.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 66.8% of those under age 18 and 27.5% of those age 65 or over.
