Best PlacesHornell, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hornell, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hornell ranks 28,825th 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 Hornell
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.
Hornell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hornell ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
- Short commute18.7 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of towns
Where Hornell ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hornell
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hornell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,574, 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 Hornell's effective rate of 2.31%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hornell
Hornell 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 Hornell.
Who works in Hornell, and how
Work in Hornell centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Hornell
Hornell has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of towns and more parkland per resident than 92% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hornell and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hornell, month by month
Hornell sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 29° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 61° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Hornell
The nearest airport, Elmira/Corning Regional, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 184 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hornell
Schools across Hornell average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Alfred-almond Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Canisteo-greenwood Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Hornell Intermediate SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Alfred-almond Junior-senior High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Canisteo-greenwood High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Hornell Junior-senior High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hornell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hornell 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 Hornell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hornell
Is Hornell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hornell ranks 28,825th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, biking, and short commutes, and lowest on property taxes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hornell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $109,163. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $57,574 median income, cost of living beats 32% of towns.
Is Hornell safe?
Hornell is safer than 23% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $431 per resident a year.
Compare Hornell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hornell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hornell 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.
Hornell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hornell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hornell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hornell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hornell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hornell 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.