Jeannette's Seismic Design Category, explained

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Jeannette is Category B. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. Rank it against the rest of the country and Jeannette sits at the 22th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Where Jeannette sits in Pennsylvania

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.042g, short-period spectral response 0.088g, 1-second spectral response 0.044g. Among 193 Pennsylvania cities in this dataset, Jeannette ranks 151 for seismic hazard, the 22th percentile within the state. About 8,566 people live in Jeannette, Pennsylvania.

Retrofit economics for Jeannette

Outside California, no state-level retrofit grant equivalent to Brace + Bolt could be found for Pennsylvania. A typical retrofit still runs $5,000-$10,000 nationally, about $7,000 for a common single-family job.

What this means for insurance

Outside California, earthquake coverage is typically sold as an endorsement added to a standard homeowners policy, not a separate product - worth asking about directly when getting a home-insurance quote for a Jeannette address.

More on how this number was built

The methodology guide covers exactly how USGS's public design-maps API produced Jeannette's numbers. The guide to what a Seismic Design Category actually means covers why a category is never a substitute for an engineer's assessment of one specific house.