Best PlacesOntario County, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ontario County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ontario County ranks 194th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $90,082, wages outrun the cost of living, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are property taxes, childcare costs, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Ontario County
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.
The best areas in Ontario County
The parts of Ontario County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Victor
More adults hold degrees, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Farmington & Shortsville
Fewer homes sit empty, though tree cover is thinner.
Bloomfield
It is quieter, though fewer households have young kids.
Canandaigua
Crime runs lower, though fewer residents vote.
Naples & Honeoye
Biking is worse and commutes are longer.
Geneva
Streets are more walkable, though schools score lower.
Clifton Springs & Phelps
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Scores across Ontario County run from about the 18th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Ontario County's strengths and weaknesses
Ontario County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Low crime is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Good schools and health care access follow.
The one real hole is property taxes, near the bottom of the country. Childcare costs and taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Ontario County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- School gradeA, better than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of counties
Where Ontario County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,317 a month, better than only 6% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ontario County
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ontario County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,082, 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 Ontario County's effective rate of 1.97%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ontario County
Ontario County 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 Ontario County.
Who works in Ontario County, and how
Work in Ontario County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Ontario County
Ontario County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of counties and more parkland per resident than 68% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ontario County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ontario County growing, and who is moving in?
Ontario County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Rochester, NY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ontario County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ontario County, month by month
Ontario County sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Ontario County
The nearest airport, Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester International, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 221 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ontario County
Schools across Ontario County average an A, better than 98% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Park Road SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
- Manor Intermediate SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Bloomfield Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Honeoye Falls-lima Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Barker Road Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
- Victor Junior High SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Pittsford-mendon High SchoolA+ · 100% proficient
- Victor Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Canandaigua AcademyA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ontario County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ontario County 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 Ontario County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Ontario County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 76% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Ontario County
Is Ontario County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ontario County ranks 194th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, good schools, and health care access, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ontario County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $240,010. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $90,082 median income, cost of living beats 76% of counties.
Is Ontario County safe?
Yes, Ontario County is safer than 99% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $197 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ontario County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 19. That works out to about 87 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Ontario County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Victor, Farmington & Shortsville, and Bloomfield. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Ontario County good for families?
Schools beat 98% of counties, crime safety beats 99%, and childcare runs $1,317 a month.
Is Ontario County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 76% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 81% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Ontario County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ontario County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ontario County 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.
Ontario County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ontario County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ontario County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ontario County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ontario County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ontario County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.