Best PlacesHerkimer, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Herkimer, 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.
Herkimer ranks 19,755th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Herkimer
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.
Herkimer's strengths and weaknesses
Where Herkimer ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
Where Herkimer ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% 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 Herkimer
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Herkimer home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,415, 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 Herkimer's effective rate of 2.25%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Herkimer
Herkimer 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 Herkimer.
Who works in Herkimer, and how
Work in Herkimer centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Herkimer
Herkimer has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of towns and more parkland per resident than 90% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Herkimer and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Herkimer, month by month
Herkimer sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 15° |
| April | 59° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 65° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Herkimer
The nearest airport, Syracuse Hancock International, is about 57 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 139 miles away.
The best schools in and around Herkimer
Schools across Herkimer average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Canada Valley Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Herkimer Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Benton Hall AcademyA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Frankfort-schuyler Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Gregory B Jarvis Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Little Falls Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Frankfort-schuyler Central High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Little Falls High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- West Canada Valley Junior-senior High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Herkimer school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Herkimer 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 Herkimer against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Herkimer
Is Herkimer a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Herkimer ranks 19,755th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and low disaster risk, 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 Herkimer expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $128,064. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $59,415 median income, cost of living beats 31% of towns.
Is Herkimer safe?
Yes, Herkimer is safer than 63% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $280 per resident a year.
Compare Herkimer with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Herkimer. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Herkimer 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.
Herkimer detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Herkimer: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Herkimer: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Herkimer: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Herkimer: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Herkimer 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.