Best Places14478, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 14478, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
14478 ranks 5,164th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 14478
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.
14478's strengths and weaknesses
Where 14478 ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 97% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Household income$116,328 median, better than 88% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 14478 ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 14478
A household needs to earn about $129,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 14478 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $116,328; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 14478's effective rate of 1.46%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 14478
14478 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 14478.
Who works in 14478, and how
Work in 14478 centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 19%
Life in 14478
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 14478.
What the weather is like in 14478, month by month
14478 sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 14478
The nearest airport, Elmira/Corning Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 201 miles away.
The best schools in and around 14478
Schools across 14478 average an A, better than 97% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Penn Yan Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Penn Yan Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Penn Yan AcademyA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 14478 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
14478 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 14478 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 14478
Is 14478 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 14478 ranks 5,164th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, heat safety, and an educated workforce, and lowest on empty homes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 14478 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $454,386. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $116,328 median income, cost of living beats 75% of zip codes.
Is 14478 safe?
Yes, 14478 is safer than 83% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $211 per resident a year.
Compare 14478 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 14478. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 14478 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.
14478 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 14478: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 14478: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 14478: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 14478: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
14478 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.