Best PlacesEast McDonough, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East McDonough, 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.
East McDonough ranks 25,256th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in East McDonough
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.
East McDonough's strengths and weaknesses
Where East McDonough ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 91% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 88% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 87% of towns
Where East McDonough ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in East McDonough
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East McDonough home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,678, 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 East McDonough's effective rate of 1.98%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in East McDonough
East McDonough 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 East McDonough.
Who works in East McDonough, and how
Work in East McDonough centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in East McDonough
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across East McDonough.
What the weather is like in East McDonough, month by month
East McDonough sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 25° | 17° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 60° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 42° |
Flying in and out of East McDonough
The nearest airport, Greater Binghamton/Edwin A Link Field, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 147 miles away.
The best schools in and around East McDonough
Schools across East McDonough average an A−, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Oxford Academy Primary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Norwich Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Oxford Academy Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Norwich High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Oxford Academy High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East McDonough school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East McDonough 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 East McDonough against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in East McDonough
Is East McDonough a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East McDonough ranks 25,256th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, quiet, 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 East McDonough expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $139,345. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $68,678 median income, cost of living beats 46% of towns.
Is East McDonough safe?
Yes, East McDonough is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $238 per resident a year.
Compare East McDonough with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East McDonough. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East McDonough 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.
East McDonough detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East McDonough: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East McDonough: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East McDonough: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East McDonough: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East McDonough 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.