Best PlacesUpper Jay, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Upper Jay, 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.
Upper Jay ranks 17,019th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Upper Jay
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.
Upper Jay's strengths and weaknesses
Where Upper Jay ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of towns
Where Upper Jay ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Upper Jay
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Upper Jay home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,130, 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 Upper Jay's effective rate of 1.29%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Upper Jay
Upper Jay 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 Upper Jay.
Who works in Upper Jay, and how
Work in Upper Jay centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Upper Jay
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Upper Jay.
What the weather is like in Upper Jay, month by month
Upper Jay sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 17° | 7° |
| April | 53° | 39° | 26° |
| July | 80° | 66° | 51° |
| October | 59° | 46° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Upper Jay
The nearest airport, Adirondack Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 175 miles away.
The best schools in and around Upper Jay
Schools across Upper Jay average a B, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Placid Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Ausable Forks Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ausable Valley Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Ausable Valley High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Upper Jay school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Upper Jay 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 Upper Jay against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Upper Jay
Is Upper Jay a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Upper Jay ranks 17,019th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, heat safety, and tree cover, and lowest on cell coverage and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Upper Jay expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,699. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $80,130 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Upper Jay safe?
Yes, Upper Jay is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $161 per resident a year.
Compare Upper Jay with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Upper Jay. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Upper Jay 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.
Upper Jay detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Upper Jay: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Upper Jay: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Upper Jay: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Upper Jay: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Upper Jay 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.