Best PlacesMadrid, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Madrid, 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.
Madrid ranks 23,485th 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 Madrid
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.
Madrid's strengths and weaknesses
Where Madrid ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- TransitBetter than 89% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 89% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 78% of towns
Where Madrid ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 15% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Madrid
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Madrid home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,645, 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 Madrid's effective rate of 2.08%, 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 Madrid
Madrid'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 Madrid.
Who works in Madrid, and how
Work in Madrid centers on education and public administration. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Madrid
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Madrid.
What the weather is like in Madrid, month by month
Madrid sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 20° | 12° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Madrid
The nearest airport, Ogdensburg International, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 231 miles away.
The best schools in and around Madrid
Schools across Madrid average a B+, better than 89% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Madrid-waddington Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- F S Banford Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Norwood-norfolk Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- J M Mckenney Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Norwood-norfolk Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- H C Williams Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Norwood-norfolk SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Potsdam Senior High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Madrid school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Madrid 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 Madrid against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Madrid
Is Madrid a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Madrid ranks 23,485th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, transit, and good schools, and lowest on property taxes and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Madrid expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $122,789. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $68,645 median income, cost of living beats 37% of towns.
Is Madrid safe?
Yes, Madrid is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $236 per resident a year.
Compare Madrid with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Madrid. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Madrid 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.
Madrid detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Madrid: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Madrid: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Madrid: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Madrid: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Madrid 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.