Best PlacesSmith Valley, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Smith Valley, 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.
Smith Valley ranks 11,127th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Smith Valley
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.
Smith Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Smith Valley ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 91% of towns
Where Smith Valley ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Smith Valley
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Smith Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,392, 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 Smith Valley's effective rate of 1.58%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Smith Valley
Smith Valley 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 Smith Valley.
Who works in Smith Valley, and how
Work in Smith Valley centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Smith Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Smith Valley.
What the weather is like in Smith Valley, month by month
Smith Valley sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 17° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Smith Valley
The nearest airport, Ithaca Tompkins International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 178 miles away.
The best schools in and around Smith Valley
Schools across Smith Valley average an A, better than 91% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Trumansburg Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Howard A Hanlon Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Russell I Doig Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Charles O Dickerson High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Odessa-montour Junior/senior High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Smith Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Smith Valley 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 Smith Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Smith Valley
Is Smith Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Smith Valley ranks 11,127th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, few empty homes, and civic engagement, and lowest on biking and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Smith Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $192,700. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $64,392 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Smith Valley safe?
Yes, Smith Valley is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $131 per resident a year.
Compare Smith Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Smith Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Smith Valley 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.
Smith Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Smith Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Smith Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Smith Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Smith Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Smith Valley 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.