Best Places14871, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 14871, 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.
14871 ranks 11,221st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 14871
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.
14871's strengths and weaknesses
Where 14871 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 83% of zip codes
Where 14871 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter 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
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 18% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 14871
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 14871 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,386, 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 14871's effective rate of 1.34%, 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 14871
14871 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 14871.
Who works in 14871, and how
Work in 14871 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 14871
14871 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 14871 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 14871, month by month
14871 sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 34° |
| July | 87° | 72° | 58° |
| October | 67° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 14871
The nearest airport, Elmira/Corning Regional, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 169 miles away.
The best schools in and around 14871
Schools across 14871 average a B, better than 72% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Big Flats SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Frederick Carder Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- William E Severn Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Corning-painted Post Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Ernie Davis AcademyF · 12% proficient
Top high schools
- Corning-painted Post High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Thomas A Edison High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Elmira High SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 14871 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
14871 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 14871 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 14871
Is 14871 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 14871 ranks 11,221st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, clean air, and few empty homes, and lowest on car insurance costs and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 14871 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $173,045. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $69,386 median income, cost of living beats 36% of zip codes.
Is 14871 safe?
Yes, 14871 is safer than 93% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $181 per resident a year.
Compare 14871 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 14871. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 14871 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.
14871 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 14871: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 14871: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 14871: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 14871: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
14871 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.