Best PlacesCattaraugus County, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cattaraugus County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cattaraugus County ranks 1,657th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cattaraugus County
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.
The best areas in Cattaraugus County
The parts of Cattaraugus County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Franklinville
More households have young kids, crime runs lower, and schools score higher.
Olean
Fewer homes sit empty, though it is noisier.
Allegany
More adults hold degrees, though tree cover is thinner.
Randolph
Streets are more car-dependent and biking is worse.
Gowanda
Commutes are longer and prices have run up more.
Salamanca
Local pay stretches less far and incomes run lower.
Scores across Cattaraugus County run from about the 10th to the 71st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Cattaraugus County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cattaraugus County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 91% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 85% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 82% of counties
- TransitBetter than 80% of counties
Where Cattaraugus County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,088 a month, better than only 12% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cattaraugus County
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cattaraugus County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,692, 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 Cattaraugus County's effective rate of 1.98%, 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 Cattaraugus County
Cattaraugus County 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 Cattaraugus County.
Who works in Cattaraugus County, and how
Work in Cattaraugus County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Cattaraugus County
Cattaraugus County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Cattaraugus County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cattaraugus County growing, and who is moving in?
Cattaraugus County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Buffalo, NY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cattaraugus County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cattaraugus County, month by month
Cattaraugus County sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 17° |
| April | 52° | 42° | 34° |
| July | 76° | 67° | 59° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Cattaraugus County
The nearest airport, Bradford Regional, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 146 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cattaraugus County
Schools across Cattaraugus County average a B+, better than 91% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Franklinville Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Robert H Jackson Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Ellicottville Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Griffith Institute Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Hollidaysburg Area JhsB+ · 51% proficient
- Seneca Intermediate SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Pioneer Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Cuba-rushford High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Griffith Institute High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cattaraugus County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cattaraugus County 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 Cattaraugus County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cattaraugus County suits
Retirees
The weather beats 57% of counties and health care access beats 66%.
Common questions about living in Cattaraugus County
Is Cattaraugus County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cattaraugus County ranks 1,657th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, good schools, and tree cover, 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 Cattaraugus County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $123,338. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $60,692 median income, cost of living beats 21% of counties.
Is Cattaraugus County safe?
Yes, Cattaraugus County is safer than 77% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $296 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cattaraugus County?
July highs average about 76 degrees, and January highs near 29 with lows near 17. That works out to about 95 pleasant days a year, more than 57% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Cattaraugus County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Franklinville, Olean, and Allegany. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Cattaraugus County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cattaraugus County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cattaraugus County 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.
Cattaraugus County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cattaraugus County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cattaraugus County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cattaraugus County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cattaraugus County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cattaraugus County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.