Best PlacesSteuben County, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Steuben County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Steuben County ranks 1,113th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Steuben 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 Steuben County
The parts of Steuben 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.
Corning & Gang Mills
More adults hold degrees, fewer homes sit empty, and local pay stretches further.
Wayland
More households have young kids, though prices have run up more.
Hornell & Canisteo
Crime runs higher and tree cover is thinner.
Addison
It is quieter, though streets are more car-dependent.
Bath
Incomes run lower and health outcomes score lower.
Steuben County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Steuben County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Steuben County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 94% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 83% of counties
- TransitBetter than 81% of counties
Where Steuben County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,088 a month, better than only 12% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Steuben County
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Steuben County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,686, 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 Steuben County's effective rate of 2.20%, 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 Steuben County
Steuben County 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 Steuben County.
Who works in Steuben County, and how
Work in Steuben County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Steuben County
Steuben County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Steuben County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Steuben County growing, and who is moving in?
Steuben County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Rochester, NY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Steuben County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Steuben County, month by month
Steuben County sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 34° |
| July | 87° | 72° | 58° |
| October | 67° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Steuben County
The nearest airport, Elmira/Corning Regional, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 194 miles away.
The best schools in and around Steuben County
Schools across Steuben County average an A−, better than 94% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Jasper-troupsburg Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Penn Yan Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Naples Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Penn Yan Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Dana L Lyon Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Corning-painted Post Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Penn Yan AcademyA+ · 98% proficient
- Haverling Senior High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Corning-painted Post High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Steuben County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Steuben 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 Steuben County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Steuben County suits
Common questions about living in Steuben County
Is Steuben County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Steuben County ranks 1,113th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, good schools, and clean air, and lowest on property taxes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Steuben County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $148,033. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $70,686 median income, cost of living beats 41% of counties.
Is Steuben County safe?
Yes, Steuben County is safer than 95% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $229 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Steuben County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 38 with lows near 18. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 31% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Steuben County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Corning & Gang Mills, Wayland, and Hornell & Canisteo. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Steuben County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Steuben County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Steuben 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.
Steuben County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Steuben County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Steuben County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Steuben County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Steuben County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Steuben 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.