Best Places13856, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 13856, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
13856 ranks 23,871st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on clean air, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 13856
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.
13856's strengths and weaknesses
Where 13856 ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 85% of zip codes
- School gradeB+, better than 84% of zip codes
Where 13856 ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 13856
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 13856 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,089, 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 13856's effective rate of 1.48%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 13856
13856 runs older 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 13856.
Who works in 13856, and how
Work in 13856 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in 13856
13856 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 96% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 13856 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 13856, month by month
13856 sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 17° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 13856
The nearest airport, Greater Binghamton/Edwin A Link Field, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 114 miles away.
The best schools in and around 13856
Schools across 13856 average a B+, better than 84% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Delaware Academy Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Sidney Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Townsend Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sidney Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Walton Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Sidney High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Walton High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Deposit Middle-senior High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 13856 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
13856 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 13856 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 13856
Is 13856 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 13856 ranks 23,871st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on clean air, walkability, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 13856 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $149,899. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $56,089 median income, cost of living beats 14% of zip codes.
Is 13856 safe?
13856 is safer than 36% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $396 per resident a year.
Compare 13856 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 13856. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 13856 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.
13856 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 13856: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 13856: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 13856: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 13856: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
13856 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.