Best PlacesMcGraw, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McGraw, 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.
McGraw ranks 12,988th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in McGraw
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.
McGraw's strengths and weaknesses
Where McGraw ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of towns
Where McGraw ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,088 a month, better than only 18% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McGraw
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McGraw home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,603, 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 McGraw's effective rate of 2.13%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in McGraw
McGraw 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 McGraw.
Who works in McGraw, and how
Work in McGraw centers on education and other services. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in McGraw
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across McGraw.
What the weather is like in McGraw, month by month
McGraw sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 59° |
| October | 61° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of McGraw
The nearest airport, Ithaca Tompkins International, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 164 miles away.
The best schools in and around McGraw
Schools across McGraw average an A−, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cincinnatus Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Mcgraw Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Homer Intermediate SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Randall Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Cincinnatus Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Homer Junior High SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Homer Senior High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Cortland High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Cincinnatus High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McGraw school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McGraw 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 McGraw against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McGraw
Is McGraw a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McGraw ranks 12,988th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, low crime, and transit, and lowest on property taxes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McGraw expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $149,402. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $68,603 median income, cost of living beats 39% of towns.
Is McGraw safe?
Yes, McGraw is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $158 per resident a year.
Compare McGraw with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McGraw. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McGraw 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.
McGraw detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McGraw: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McGraw: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McGraw: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McGraw: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McGraw 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.