Best PlacesOswego County, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Oswego County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Oswego County ranks 1,256th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on property taxes and taxes. It does better on low disaster risk, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Oswego 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 Oswego County
The parts of Oswego 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.
Mexico
It is quieter, tree cover is thicker, and crime runs lower.
Central Square, Phoenix & Pennellville
Fewer homes sit empty and more households have young kids.
Constantia & West Monroe
Commutes are longer and biking is worse.
Oswego
Health outcomes score higher and more adults hold degrees.
Fulton
Streets are more walkable.
Pulaski
Local pay stretches less far and incomes run lower.
Oswego County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 12% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Oswego County's strengths and weaknesses
Oswego County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low disaster risk is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Heat safety and clean air follow.
The one real hole is property taxes, near the bottom of the country. Taxes and childcare costs also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Oswego County to another than it does between Oswego County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Oswego County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 89% of counties
- TransitBetter than 89% of counties
Where Oswego County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,088 a month, better than only 12% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Oswego County
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oswego County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,465, 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 Oswego County's effective rate of 2.23%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oswego County
Oswego County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Oswego County.
Who works in Oswego County, and how
Work in Oswego County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Oswego County
Oswego County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less late-night activity than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Oswego County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Oswego County growing, and who is moving in?
Oswego County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Syracuse, NY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Oswego County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Oswego County, month by month
Oswego County sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 35° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Oswego County
The nearest airport, Syracuse Hancock International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 210 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oswego County
Schools across Oswego County average a B+, better than 89% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sandy Creek Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Brewerton Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Pulaski Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Emerson J Dillon Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Oswego Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Camden Middle SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Sandy Creek High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Paul V Moore High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Camden Senior High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oswego County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oswego 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 Oswego County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Oswego County suits
Common questions about living in Oswego County
Is Oswego County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oswego County ranks 1,256th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, heat safety, and clean air, 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 Oswego County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $149,234. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $71,465 median income, cost of living beats 45% of counties.
Is Oswego County safe?
Yes, Oswego County is safer than 81% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $280 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oswego County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 18. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 27% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Oswego County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Mexico, Central Square, Phoenix & Pennellville, and Constantia & West Monroe. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Oswego County good for families?
Schools beat 89% of counties, crime safety beats 81%, and childcare runs $1,088 a month.
Is Oswego County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 45% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 40% of counties. About 9% of workers already work from home.
Compare Oswego County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oswego County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oswego 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.
Oswego County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oswego County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oswego County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oswego County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oswego County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oswego 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.