Best PlacesIthaca, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ithaca, 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.
Ithaca ranks 25,773rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ithaca
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.
Ithaca's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ithaca ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 85% of towns
- BikingBetter than 85% of towns
Where Ithaca ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 25% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 27% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ithaca
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ithaca home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,462, 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 Ithaca's effective rate of 1.07%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ithaca
Ithaca'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 Ithaca.
Who works in Ithaca, and how
Work in Ithaca centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Ithaca
Ithaca has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of towns and more parkland per resident than 99% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ithaca and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ithaca, month by month
Ithaca sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 20° |
| April | 57° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 62° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Ithaca
The nearest airport, MBS International, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ithaca
Schools across Ithaca average a C+, better than 44% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ashley Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- North Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Breckenridge Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fulton Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Ts Nurnberger Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Ashley Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Ithaca High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Fulton High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- St Louis High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ithaca school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ithaca 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 Ithaca against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ithaca
Is Ithaca a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ithaca ranks 25,773rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, heat safety, and a stable housing market, and lowest on car insurance costs and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ithaca expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $166,646. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $66,462 median income, cost of living beats 46% of towns.
Is Ithaca safe?
Ithaca is safer than 42% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $370 per resident a year.
Compare Ithaca with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ithaca. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ithaca 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.
Ithaca detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ithaca: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ithaca: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ithaca: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ithaca: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ithaca 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.