Best PlacesClifton Springs, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Clifton Springs, 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.
Clifton Springs ranks 13,670th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Clifton Springs
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.
Clifton Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Clifton Springs ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 94% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of towns
Where Clifton Springs ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,317 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Clifton Springs
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clifton Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,114, 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 Clifton Springs' effective rate of 2.07%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Clifton Springs
Clifton Springs 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 Clifton Springs.
Who works in Clifton Springs, and how
Work in Clifton Springs centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Clifton Springs
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Clifton Springs.
What the weather is like in Clifton Springs, month by month
Clifton Springs sees roughly 96 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 Clifton Springs
The nearest airport, Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester International, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 219 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clifton Springs
Schools across Clifton Springs average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Red Jacket Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Canandaigua Primary-elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Midlakes Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Canandaigua Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Palmyra-macedon Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Red Jacket Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Canandaigua AcademyA+ · 98% proficient
- Palmyra-macedon Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Red Jacket High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clifton Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clifton Springs 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 Clifton Springs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Clifton Springs
Is Clifton Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clifton Springs ranks 13,670th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, low disaster risk, and clean air, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clifton Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $149,291. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $69,114 median income, cost of living beats 37% of towns.
Is Clifton Springs safe?
Yes, Clifton Springs is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $211 per resident a year.
Compare Clifton Springs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clifton Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clifton Springs 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.
Clifton Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clifton Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clifton Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clifton Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clifton Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clifton Springs 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.