Best PlacesStillwater, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stillwater, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Stillwater ranks 4,995th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Stillwater
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.
Stillwater's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stillwater ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 96% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of towns
- Household income$107,580 median, better than 89% of towns
- TransitBetter than 89% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of towns
Where Stillwater ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,307 a month, better than only 10% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Stillwater
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stillwater home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $107,580, 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 Stillwater's effective rate of 1.25%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Stillwater
Stillwater'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 Stillwater.
Who works in Stillwater, and how
Work in Stillwater centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Stillwater
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Stillwater.
What the weather is like in Stillwater, month by month
Stillwater sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 27° | 18° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Stillwater
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 87 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stillwater
Schools across Stillwater average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Stillwater Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Schuylerville Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Hoosic Valley Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gowana Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Maple Avenue Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Ballston Spa Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Saratoga Springs High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Shenendehowa High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Schuylerville High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stillwater school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stillwater 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 Stillwater against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Stillwater
Is Stillwater a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stillwater ranks 4,995th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, clean air, and high incomes, and lowest on childcare costs 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 Stillwater expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $303,645. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $107,580 median income, cost of living beats 81% of towns.
Is Stillwater safe?
Yes, Stillwater is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $208 per resident a year.
Compare Stillwater with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stillwater. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stillwater 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.
Stillwater detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stillwater: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stillwater: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stillwater: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stillwater: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stillwater 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.