Best Places13617, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 13617, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
13617 ranks 10,639th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 13617
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
13617's strengths and weaknesses
Where 13617 ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 95% of zip codes
- Short commute16.8 minutes each way, better than 94% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 13617 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 13617
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 13617 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,133, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 13617's effective rate of 2.23%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 13617
13617 runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 13617.
Who works in 13617, and how
Work in 13617 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 20%
Life in 13617
13617 has more parkland per resident than 74% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 13617 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 13617, month by month
13617 sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 20° | 12° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 13617
The nearest airport, Ogdensburg International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 222 miles away.
The best schools in and around 13617
Schools across 13617 average an A, better than 95% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Lawrence Avenue Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Madrid-waddington Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- F S Banford Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- J M Mckenney Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- A A Kingston Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- H C Williams Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Potsdam Senior High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Edwards-knox Junior-senior High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 13617 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
13617 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 13617 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 13617
Is 13617 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 13617 ranks 10,639th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, short commutes, and heat safety, and lowest on property taxes and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 13617 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $161,423. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $63,133 median income, cost of living beats 21% of zip codes.
Is 13617 safe?
13617 is safer than 53% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $314 per resident a year.
Compare 13617 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 13617. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 13617 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
13617 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 13617: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 13617: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 13617: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 13617: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
13617 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.