Best PlacesFonda, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fonda, 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.
Fonda ranks 12,152nd 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 Fonda
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.
Fonda's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fonda ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of towns
- Short commute20.7 minutes each way, better than 85% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 85% of towns
Where Fonda ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,088 a month, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fonda
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fonda home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,184, 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 Fonda's effective rate of 1.97%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fonda
Fonda's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fonda.
Who works in Fonda, and how
Work in Fonda centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Fonda
Fonda has more parkland per resident than 98% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Fonda and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Fonda, month by month
Fonda sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 57° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 62° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Fonda
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fonda
Schools across Fonda average an A−, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fonda-fultonville K-4 SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Harry Hoag SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- East Hill SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fonda-fultonville 5-8 SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Canajoharie Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Fonda-fultonville Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Canajoharie Senior High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Fort Plain Junior-senior High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fonda school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fonda 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 Fonda against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fonda
Is Fonda a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fonda ranks 12,152nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, clean air, and fast internet, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fonda expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $176,568. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $82,184 median income, cost of living beats 59% of towns.
Is Fonda safe?
Yes, Fonda is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $206 per resident a year.
Compare Fonda with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fonda. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fonda 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.
Fonda detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fonda: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fonda: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fonda: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fonda: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fonda 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.