Best PlacesMcKinley, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McKinley, 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.
McKinley ranks 10,897th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in McKinley
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.
McKinley's strengths and weaknesses
Where McKinley ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of towns
Where McKinley ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McKinley
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McKinley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $96,600, 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 McKinley's effective rate of 1.87%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in McKinley
McKinley runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for McKinley.
Who works in McKinley, and how
Work in McKinley centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in McKinley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across McKinley.
What the weather is like in McKinley, month by month
McKinley sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 57° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 62° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of McKinley
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around McKinley
Schools across McKinley average a B+, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Harry Hoag SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- East Hill SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Canajoharie Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Canajoharie Senior High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Fort Plain Junior-senior High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McKinley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McKinley 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 McKinley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McKinley
Is McKinley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McKinley ranks 10,897th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, few empty homes, and clean air, and lowest on property taxes and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McKinley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $194,720. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $96,600 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is McKinley safe?
Yes, McKinley is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $164 per resident a year.
Compare McKinley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McKinley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McKinley 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.
McKinley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McKinley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McKinley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McKinley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McKinley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McKinley 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.