Best PlacesPort Ontario, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Port Ontario, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Port Ontario ranks 9,528th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Port Ontario
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.
Port Ontario's strengths and weaknesses
Where Port Ontario ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Household income$107,258 median, better than 89% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of towns
Where Port Ontario ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,088 a month, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Port Ontario
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Port Ontario home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $107,258, 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 Port Ontario's effective rate of 1.79%, 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 Port Ontario
Port Ontario runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Port Ontario.
Who works in Port Ontario, and how
Work in Port Ontario centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Port Ontario
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Port Ontario.
What the weather is like in Port Ontario, month by month
Port Ontario 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 Port Ontario
The nearest airport, Watertown International, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 211 miles away.
The best schools in and around Port Ontario
Schools across Port Ontario average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pulaski Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Pulaski Middle-high SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Port Ontario school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Port Ontario 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 Port Ontario against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Port Ontario
Is Port Ontario a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Port Ontario ranks 9,528th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, clean air, and low crime, and lowest on property taxes and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Port Ontario expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $208,500. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $107,258 median income, cost of living beats 88% of towns.
Is Port Ontario safe?
Yes, Port Ontario is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $180 per resident a year.
Compare Port Ontario with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Port Ontario. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Port Ontario 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.
Port Ontario detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Port Ontario: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Port Ontario: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Port Ontario: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Port Ontario: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Port Ontario 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.