Best PlacesJamestown, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Jamestown, 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.
Jamestown ranks 1,678th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Jamestown
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.
Jamestown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Jamestown ranks high
- Short commute15.9 minutes each way, better than 98% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of cities
- School gradeB+, better than 84% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 82% of cities
Where Jamestown ranks low
- Household income$51,775 median, better than only 2% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 7% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Jamestown
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jamestown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,775, 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 Jamestown's effective rate of 2.34%, 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 Jamestown
Jamestown's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Jamestown.
Who works in Jamestown, and how
Work in Jamestown centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Jamestown
Jamestown has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of cities and more parkland per resident than 93% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Jamestown and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Jamestown, month by month
Jamestown sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 35° |
| July | 79° | 69° | 59° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Jamestown
The nearest airport, Bradford Regional, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around Jamestown
Schools across Jamestown average a B+, better than 84% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Robert H Jackson Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Bemus Point Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Abraham Lincoln Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Westfield Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Fredonia Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Southwestern Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Fredonia High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Southwestern Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Westfield High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jamestown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jamestown 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 Jamestown against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Jamestown suits
Common questions about living in Jamestown
Is Jamestown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jamestown ranks 1,678th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on short commutes, heat safety, and low disaster risk, and lowest on low incomes and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Jamestown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $101,703. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $51,775 median income, cost of living beats 7% of cities.
Is Jamestown safe?
Jamestown is safer than 41% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $357 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Jamestown?
July highs average about 79 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 18. That works out to about 95 pleasant days a year, more than 57% of cities.
Is Jamestown good for families?
Schools beat 84% of cities, crime safety beats 41%, and childcare runs $1,088 a month.
Compare Jamestown with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jamestown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jamestown 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.
Jamestown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jamestown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jamestown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jamestown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jamestown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jamestown 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.