Best PlacesCayuga, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cayuga, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cayuga ranks 10,962nd of 50,333 U.S. towns 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
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.
Cayuga's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cayuga ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 93% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of towns
- Short commute19.9 minutes each way, better than 88% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of towns
Where Cayuga ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,088 a month, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cayuga
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cayuga home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $93,480, 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's effective rate of 1.75%, 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
Cayuga runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cayuga.
Who works in Cayuga, and how
Work in Cayuga centers on manufacturing and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Cayuga
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cayuga.
What the weather is like in Cayuga, month by month
Cayuga 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 Cayuga
The nearest airport, Ithaca Tompkins International, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 202 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cayuga
Schools across Cayuga average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Andrew J Smith Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- William H Seward Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Seneca Falls Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Mynderse AcademyA+ · 90% proficient
- Union Springs High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Port Byron Senior High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cayuga school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cayuga 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cayuga
Is Cayuga a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cayuga ranks 10,962nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, good schools, and clean air, and lowest on property taxes 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 Cayuga expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $171,270. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $93,480 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Cayuga safe?
Yes, Cayuga is safer than 69% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $253 per resident a year.
Compare Cayuga with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cayuga. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cayuga 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cayuga: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cayuga: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cayuga: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cayuga: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cayuga 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.