Best Places14818, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 14818, 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.
14818 ranks 8,154th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 14818
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.
14818's strengths and weaknesses
Where 14818 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of zip codes
Where 14818 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 17% 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 14818
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 14818 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $79,251; 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 14818's effective rate of 1.58%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 14818
14818 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 14818.
Who works in 14818, and how
Work in 14818 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 14818
14818 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 14818 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 14818, month by month
14818 sees roughly 81 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 14818
The nearest airport, Ithaca Tompkins International, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 183 miles away.
The best schools in and around 14818
Schools across 14818 average an A−, better than 85% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Howard A Hanlon Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Watkins Glen Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Odessa-montour Junior/senior High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Watkins Glen Central High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 14818 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
14818 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 14818 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 14818
Is 14818 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 14818 ranks 8,154th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, low disaster risk, and tree cover, and lowest on property taxes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 14818 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $281,032. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $79,251 median income, cost of living beats 61% of zip codes.
Is 14818 safe?
Yes, 14818 is safer than 93% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $175 per resident a year.
Compare 14818 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 14818. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 14818 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.
14818 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 14818: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 14818: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 14818: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 14818: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
14818 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.