Best PlacesSouth Dayton, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Dayton, 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.
South Dayton ranks 26,844th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Property taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on heat safety.
The best neighborhoods in South Dayton
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.
South Dayton's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Dayton ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- QuietBetter than 81% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 80% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 80% of towns
Where South Dayton ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,088 a month, better than only 18% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Dayton
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Dayton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,438, 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 South Dayton's effective rate of 2.08%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in South Dayton
South Dayton's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for South Dayton.
Who works in South Dayton, and how
Work in South Dayton centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in South Dayton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across South Dayton.
What the weather is like in South Dayton, month by month
South Dayton sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 29° | 22° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 66° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of South Dayton
The nearest airport, Buffalo Niagara International, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 143 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Dayton
Schools across South Dayton average a B+, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pine Valley Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Gowanda Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Forestville Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gowanda Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Gowanda High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Forestville Central High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Pine Valley Central Junior-senior High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Dayton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Dayton 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 South Dayton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Dayton
Is South Dayton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Dayton ranks 26,844th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, low disaster risk, and quiet, and lowest on property taxes and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Dayton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $104,062. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $63,438 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is South Dayton safe?
Yes, South Dayton is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $223 per resident a year.
Compare South Dayton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Dayton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Dayton 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.
South Dayton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Dayton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Dayton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Dayton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Dayton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Dayton 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.