Best PlacesMassena, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Massena, 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.
Massena ranks 22,408th 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 Massena
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.
Massena's strengths and weaknesses
Where Massena ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute18.6 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of towns
Where Massena ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,088 a month, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Massena
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Massena home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,263, 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 Massena's effective rate of 2.02%, 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 Massena
Massena 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 Massena.
Who works in Massena, and how
Work in Massena centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Massena
Massena has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of towns and more parkland per resident than 88% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Massena and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Massena, month by month
Massena sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 20° | 10° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 32° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 58° |
| October | 63° | 50° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Massena
The nearest airport, Massena International-Richards Field, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 234 miles away.
The best schools in and around Massena
Schools across Massena average an A−, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Madrid-waddington Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Saint Lawrence Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Nightengale Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- J William Leary Junior High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- St Lawrence Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Norwood-norfolk Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Norwood-norfolk SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Saint Lawrence High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Massena Senior High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Massena school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Massena 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 Massena against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Massena
Is Massena a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Massena ranks 22,408th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and biking, and lowest on property taxes and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Massena expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $121,511. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $62,263 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Massena safe?
Massena is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $303 per resident a year.
Compare Massena with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Massena. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Massena 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.
Massena detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Massena: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Massena: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Massena: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Massena: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Massena 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.