Best PlacesRichland, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Richland, 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.
Richland ranks 24,590th 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 Richland
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.
Richland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Richland ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 88% of towns
Where Richland ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,088 a month, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Richland
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Richland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,778, 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 Richland's effective rate of 1.74%, 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 Richland
Richland runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Richland.
Who works in Richland, and how
Work in Richland centers on manufacturing 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 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Richland
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Richland.
What the weather is like in Richland, month by month
Richland sees roughly 71 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 Richland
The nearest airport, Watertown International, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 202 miles away.
The best schools in and around Richland
Schools across Richland average a B+, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sandy Creek Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Pulaski Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Altmar-parish-williamstown Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sandy Creek Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Sandy Creek High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Pulaski Middle-high SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Altmar-parish-williamstown Jr/sr High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Richland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Richland 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 Richland against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Richland
Is Richland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Richland ranks 24,590th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, tree cover, and heat safety, 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 Richland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $118,135. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $71,778 median income, cost of living beats 39% of towns.
Is Richland safe?
Yes, Richland is safer than 66% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $253 per resident a year.
Compare Richland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Richland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Richland 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.
Richland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Richland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Richland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Richland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Richland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Richland 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.