Best PlacesSt. Lawrence County, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in St. Lawrence County, 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.
St. Lawrence County ranks 1,431st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on low disaster risk and good schools. The weaker spots are property taxes, car insurance costs, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in St. Lawrence County
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.
The best areas in St. Lawrence County
The parts of St. Lawrence County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Potsdam & Canton
More adults hold degrees, health outcomes score higher, and biking is better.
Ogdensburg
Fewer households have young kids and tree cover is thinner.
Massena
Fewer homes sit empty, though prices have run up more.
Norwood
Local pay stretches further, though streets are more car-dependent.
Gouverneur
Schools score lower and commutes are longer.
Scores across St. Lawrence County run from about the 12th to the 88th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
St. Lawrence County's strengths and weaknesses
St. Lawrence County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low disaster risk, good schools, and heat safety carry most of that.
The one real hole is property taxes, near the bottom of the country. Car insurance costs and taxes also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of St. Lawrence County to another than it does between St. Lawrence County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where St. Lawrence County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 94% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- TransitBetter than 84% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 80% of counties
Where St. Lawrence County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,088 a month, better than only 12% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in St. Lawrence County
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median St. Lawrence County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,736, 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 St. Lawrence County's effective rate of 2.04%, 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 St. Lawrence County
St. Lawrence County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 St. Lawrence County.
Who works in St. Lawrence County, and how
Work in St. Lawrence County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in St. Lawrence County
St. Lawrence County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of counties and more parkland per resident than 89% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of St. Lawrence County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is St. Lawrence County growing, and who is moving in?
St. Lawrence County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from New York, NY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving St. Lawrence County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in St. Lawrence County, month by month
St. Lawrence County sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 20° | 12° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of St. Lawrence County
The nearest airport, Ogdensburg International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 225 miles away.
The best schools in and around St. Lawrence County
Schools across St. Lawrence County average an A−, better than 94% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lawrence Avenue Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Madrid-waddington Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Saint Lawrence Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- J M Mckenney Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- A A Kingston Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- J William Leary Junior High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Indian River High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Saranac Lake Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- H C Williams Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every St. Lawrence County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
St. Lawrence County 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 St. Lawrence County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who St. Lawrence County suits
Common questions about living in St. Lawrence County
Is St. Lawrence County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, St. Lawrence County ranks 1,431st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, good schools, and heat safety, 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 St. Lawrence County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $134,177. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $65,736 median income, cost of living beats 28% of counties.
Is St. Lawrence County safe?
Yes, St. Lawrence County is safer than 76% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $287 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in St. Lawrence County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 29 with lows near 12. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in St. Lawrence County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Potsdam & Canton, Ogdensburg, and Massena. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is St. Lawrence County good for families?
Schools beat 94% of counties, crime safety beats 76%, and childcare runs $1,088 a month.
Is St. Lawrence County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 28% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 31% of counties. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare St. Lawrence County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to St. Lawrence County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in St. Lawrence County 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.
St. Lawrence County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for St. Lawrence County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in St. Lawrence County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of St. Lawrence County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in St. Lawrence County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
St. Lawrence County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.