Best PlacesInterlaken, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Interlaken, 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.
Interlaken ranks 18,999th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Interlaken
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.
Interlaken's strengths and weaknesses
Where Interlaken ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 87% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of towns
Where Interlaken ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Interlaken
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Interlaken home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,618, 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 Interlaken's effective rate of 1.67%, 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 Interlaken
Interlaken 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 Interlaken.
Who works in Interlaken, and how
Work in Interlaken centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Interlaken
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Interlaken.
What the weather is like in Interlaken, month by month
Interlaken sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 17° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Interlaken
The nearest airport, Ithaca Tompkins International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 187 miles away.
The best schools in and around Interlaken
Schools across Interlaken average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Trumansburg Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- South Seneca Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Russell I Doig Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Charles O Dickerson High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Southern Cayuga 7-12 Secondary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- South Seneca Middle/high SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Interlaken school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Interlaken 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 Interlaken against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Interlaken
Is Interlaken a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Interlaken ranks 18,999th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, good schools, and clean air, and lowest on property taxes and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Interlaken expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $205,055. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $71,618 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is Interlaken safe?
Yes, Interlaken is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $270 per resident a year.
Compare Interlaken with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Interlaken. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Interlaken 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.
Interlaken detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Interlaken: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Interlaken: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Interlaken: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Interlaken: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Interlaken 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.