Best PlacesSterling Valley, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sterling 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.
Sterling Valley ranks 19,186th 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 Sterling 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.
Sterling Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sterling Valley ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 91% of towns
Where Sterling Valley ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sterling Valley
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sterling Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,985, 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 Sterling Valley's effective rate of 1.87%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sterling Valley
Sterling Valley runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sterling Valley.
Who works in Sterling Valley, and how
Work in Sterling Valley centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Sterling Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sterling Valley.
What the weather is like in Sterling Valley, month by month
Sterling Valley sees roughly 74 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 Sterling Valley
The nearest airport, Syracuse Hancock International, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 224 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sterling Valley
Schools across Sterling Valley average a B+, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fairley SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kenney Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Hannibal High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sterling Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sterling 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 Sterling Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sterling Valley
Is Sterling Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sterling Valley ranks 19,186th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, tree cover, and clean air, and lowest on property taxes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sterling Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $183,343. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $74,985 median income, cost of living beats 47% of towns.
Is Sterling Valley safe?
Yes, Sterling Valley is safer than 71% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $241 per resident a year.
Compare Sterling Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sterling Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sterling 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.
Sterling Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sterling Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sterling Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sterling Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sterling Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sterling 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.