Swissvale is a somewhat small borough located in the state of Pennsylvania. With a population of 8,392 people and four associated neighborhoods, Swissvale is the 140th largest community in Pennsylvania. Swissvale has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic boroughs.

Also of interest is that Swissvale has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

A relatively large number of people in Swissvale telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 18.24% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Despite the fact that it is a small borough, Swissvale has quite a few people who take public transportation – mostly the bus - for their daily commute to work. This helps to fill a real need in the borough for affordable transportation.

The citizens of Swissvale are among the most well-educated in the nation: 40.68% of adults in Swissvale have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Swissvale in 2018 was $37,266, which is upper middle income relative to Pennsylvania and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $149,064 for a family of four. However, Swissvale contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Swissvale is an extremely ethnically-diverse borough. The people who call Swissvale home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Swissvale residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Swissvale include Irish, German, Italian, English, and Croatian.

The most common language spoken in Swissvale is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Korean.