Best PlacesCayuga County, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cayuga County, 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.
Cayuga County ranks 1,037th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cayuga 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 Cayuga County
The parts of Cayuga 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.
Weedsport
Tree cover is thicker, fewer homes sit empty, and crime runs lower.
Moravia
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Port Byron
Streets are more car-dependent and fewer adults hold degrees.
Auburn
Incomes run lower and local pay stretches less far.
Cayuga County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 7%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Cayuga County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cayuga County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 90% of counties
- TransitBetter than 90% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of counties
Where Cayuga County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter 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 Cayuga County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cayuga County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,659, 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 Cayuga County's effective rate of 1.86%, 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 Cayuga County
Cayuga 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 Cayuga County.
Who works in Cayuga County, and how
Work in Cayuga 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 85%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Cayuga County
Cayuga County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cayuga County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cayuga County growing, and who is moving in?
Cayuga County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Syracuse, NY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cayuga County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cayuga County, month by month
Cayuga County sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 27° | 18° |
| April | 60° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Cayuga County
The nearest airport, Syracuse Hancock International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 198 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cayuga County
Schools across Cayuga County average a B+, better than 90% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Southern Cayuga Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Andrew J Smith Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Groton Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Skaneateles Middle SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Union Springs Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Jordan-elbridge Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Skaneateles Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Homer Senior High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Jordan-elbridge High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cayuga County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cayuga 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 Cayuga County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cayuga County suits
Common questions about living in Cayuga County
Is Cayuga County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cayuga County ranks 1,037th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, good schools, and transit, and lowest on property taxes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cayuga County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $176,446. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $71,659 median income, cost of living beats 42% of counties.
Is Cayuga County safe?
Yes, Cayuga County is safer than 85% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cayuga County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 18. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 27% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Cayuga County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Weedsport, Moravia, and Port Byron. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Cayuga County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cayuga County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cayuga 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.
Cayuga County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cayuga County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cayuga County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cayuga County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cayuga County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cayuga 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.