Best PlacesPlattsburgh, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Plattsburgh, 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.
Plattsburgh ranks 1,318th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Plattsburgh
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.
Plattsburgh's strengths and weaknesses
Where Plattsburgh ranks high
- Short commute17.4 minutes each way, better than 95% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of cities
- School gradeB+, better than 84% of cities
Where Plattsburgh ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Plattsburgh
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Plattsburgh home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,190, 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 Plattsburgh's effective rate of 2.12%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Plattsburgh
Plattsburgh'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 Plattsburgh.
Who works in Plattsburgh, and how
Work in Plattsburgh centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Plattsburgh
Plattsburgh has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of cities and more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Plattsburgh and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Plattsburgh, month by month
Plattsburgh sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 22° | 13° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 32° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Plattsburgh
The nearest airport, Plattsburgh International, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 195 miles away.
The best schools in and around Plattsburgh
Schools across Plattsburgh average a B+, better than 84% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Chazy Central Rural Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Cumberland Head Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Saranac Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Beekmantown Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Saranac Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Stafford Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Saranac High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Plattsburgh Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Beekmantown High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Plattsburgh school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Plattsburgh 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 Plattsburgh against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Plattsburgh suits
Common questions about living in Plattsburgh
Is Plattsburgh a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Plattsburgh ranks 1,318th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on short commutes, low disaster risk, and a stable housing market, and lowest on internet speeds and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Plattsburgh expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $195,815. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $71,190 median income, cost of living beats 20% of cities.
Is Plattsburgh safe?
Yes, Plattsburgh is safer than 59% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $310 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Plattsburgh?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 13. That works out to about 88 pleasant days a year, more than 52% of cities.
Is Plattsburgh good for families?
Schools beat 84% of cities, crime safety beats 59%, and childcare runs $1,088 a month.
Compare Plattsburgh with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Plattsburgh. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Plattsburgh 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.
Plattsburgh detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Plattsburgh: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Plattsburgh: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Plattsburgh: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Plattsburgh: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Plattsburgh 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.