Best PlacesOntario on the Lake, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ontario on the Lake, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ontario on the Lake ranks 1,945th 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 Ontario on the Lake
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.
Ontario on the Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ontario on the Lake ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 95% of towns
Where Ontario on the Lake ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,129 a month, better than only 15% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ontario on the Lake
A household needs to earn about $100,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ontario on the Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $108,359, 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 on the Lake's effective rate of 2.18%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ontario on the Lake
Ontario on the Lake runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ontario on the Lake.
Who works in Ontario on the Lake, and how
Work in Ontario on the Lake centers on education and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Ontario on the Lake
Ontario on the Lake has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns and more parkland per resident than 99% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ontario on the Lake and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ontario on the Lake, month by month
Ontario on the Lake sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 28° | 20° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Ontario on the Lake
The nearest airport, Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester International, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 242 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ontario on the Lake
Schools across Ontario on the Lake average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Schlegel Road Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Lakeshore Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Spry Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Wayne Central Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Arcadia Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Wayne Senior High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Northeast College Preparatory High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ontario on the Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ontario on the Lake 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 on the Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ontario on the Lake
Is Ontario on the Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ontario on the Lake ranks 1,945th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, low disaster risk, and health care access, 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 Ontario on the Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $322,824. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $108,359 median income, cost of living beats 83% of towns.
Is Ontario on the Lake safe?
Yes, Ontario on the Lake is safer than 100% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $99 per resident a year.
Compare Ontario on the Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ontario on the Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ontario on the Lake 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 on the Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ontario on the Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ontario on the Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ontario on the Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ontario on the Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ontario on the Lake 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.