Best PlacesClinton County, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Clinton 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.
Clinton County ranks 950th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Clinton 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 Clinton County
The parts of Clinton 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.
Peru
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and tree cover is thicker.
Morrisonville
Fewer homes sit empty and more households have young kids.
West Chazy
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Plattsburgh
Streets are more walkable, though fewer residents vote.
Dannemora
Prices have run up less, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Rouses Point
Scores close to Dannemora, except that health care is easier to reach here.
Scores across Clinton County run from about the 7th to the 89th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Clinton County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clinton County ranks high
- School gradeB+, better than 92% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of counties
- TransitBetter than 84% of counties
Where Clinton County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% 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 Clinton County
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clinton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,680, 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 Clinton 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 Clinton County
Clinton County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Clinton County.
Who works in Clinton County, and how
Work in Clinton 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 7%
Life in Clinton County
Clinton County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Clinton County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Clinton County growing, and who is moving in?
Clinton County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from New York, NY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Clinton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Clinton County, month by month
Clinton County sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 22° | 13° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 32° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Clinton County
The nearest airport, Plattsburgh International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 198 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clinton County
Schools across Clinton County average a B+, better than 92% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mooers Elementary SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Chazy Central Rural Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Rouses Point Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Beekmantown Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Saranac Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Stafford Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Saranac High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Plattsburgh Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Beekmantown High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clinton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clinton 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 Clinton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Clinton County suits
Common questions about living in Clinton County
Is Clinton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clinton County ranks 950th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, heat safety, and low disaster risk, 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 Clinton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $185,697. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $77,680 median income, cost of living beats 51% of counties.
Is Clinton County safe?
Yes, Clinton County is safer than 85% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $269 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Clinton County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 13. That works out to about 87 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Clinton County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Peru, Morrisonville, and West Chazy. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Clinton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clinton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clinton 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.
Clinton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clinton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clinton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clinton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clinton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clinton 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.