Best PlacesRome, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rome, 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.
Rome ranks 1,348th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rome
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.
Rome's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rome ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of cities
- Short commute18.8 minutes each way, better than 91% of cities
- School gradeB+, better than 82% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 72% of cities
Where Rome ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Rome
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rome home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,972, 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 Rome's effective rate of 2.13%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rome
Rome runs older than the country, 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 Rome.
Who works in Rome, and how
Work in Rome 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 80%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Rome
Rome has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Rome and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Rome, month by month
Rome sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 15° |
| April | 59° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 65° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Rome
The nearest airport, Syracuse Hancock International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 166 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rome
Schools across Rome average a B+, better than 82% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Westmoreland Upper Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Ridge Mills Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Durhamville SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Holland Patent Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Vernon-verona-sherrill Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Lyndon H Strough Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Vernon-verona-sherrill Senior High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Holland Patent Central High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Camden Senior High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rome school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rome 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 Rome against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Rome suits
Common questions about living in Rome
Is Rome a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rome ranks 1,348th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low disaster risk, clean air, and short commutes, 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 Rome expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $163,970. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $73,972 median income, cost of living beats 32% of cities.
Is Rome safe?
Yes, Rome is safer than 63% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $303 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Rome?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 15. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 24% of cities.
Is Rome good for families?
Schools beat 82% of cities, crime safety beats 63%, and childcare runs $1,088 a month.
Compare Rome with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rome. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rome 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.
Rome detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rome: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rome: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rome: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rome: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rome 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.