Best PlacesCentral Square, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Central Square, 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.
Central Square ranks 14,990th 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 Central Square
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.
Central Square's strengths and weaknesses
Where Central Square ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 86% of towns
Where Central Square ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,092 a month, better than only 17% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Central Square
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Central Square home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,667, 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 Central Square's effective rate of 2.00%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Central Square
Central Square 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 Central Square.
Who works in Central Square, and how
Work in Central Square centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Central Square
Central Square has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Central Square and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Central Square, month by month
Central Square sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 35° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Central Square
The nearest airport, Syracuse Hancock International, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 200 miles away.
The best schools in and around Central Square
Schools across Central Square average a B+, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Brewerton Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Hastings Mallory Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Michael A Maroun Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Emerson J Dillon Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Central Square Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Mexico Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Paul V Moore High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- John C Birdlebough High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Mexico High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Central Square school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Central Square 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 Central Square against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Central Square
Is Central Square a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Central Square ranks 14,990th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, transit, and clean air, 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 Central Square expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,129. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $77,667 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is Central Square safe?
Yes, Central Square is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $205 per resident a year.
Compare Central Square with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Central Square. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Central Square 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.
Central Square detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Central Square: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Central Square: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Central Square: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Central Square: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Central Square 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.