Best PlacesOld Forge, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Old Forge, 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.
Old Forge ranks 20,340th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Old Forge
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.
Old Forge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Old Forge ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 95% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
Where Old Forge ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Old Forge
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Old Forge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,497, 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 Old Forge's effective rate of 0.89%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Old Forge
Old Forge 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 Old Forge.
Who works in Old Forge, and how
Work in Old Forge centers on education and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Old Forge
Old Forge has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Old Forge and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Old Forge, month by month
Old Forge sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 15° |
| April | 59° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 65° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Old Forge
The nearest airport, Watertown International, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around Old Forge
Schools across Old Forge average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lowville Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lowville Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Lowville High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Old Forge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Old Forge 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 Old Forge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Old Forge
Is Old Forge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Old Forge ranks 20,340th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, walkability, and good schools, and lowest on the weather and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Old Forge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $321,468. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $90,497 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Old Forge safe?
Old Forge is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $557 per resident a year.
Compare Old Forge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Old Forge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Old Forge 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.
Old Forge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Old Forge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Old Forge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Old Forge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Old Forge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Old Forge 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.