Best PlacesVan Etten, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Van Etten, 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.
Van Etten ranks 17,814th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Van Etten
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.
Van Etten's strengths and weaknesses
Where Van Etten ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 92% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of towns
Where Van Etten ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Short commute33.9 minutes each way, better than only 17% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,088 a month, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Van Etten
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Van Etten home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,554, 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 Van Etten's effective rate of 2.07%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Van Etten
Van Etten'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 Van Etten.
Who works in Van Etten, and how
Work in Van Etten centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Van Etten
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Van Etten.
What the weather is like in Van Etten, month by month
Van Etten sees roughly 67 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 Van Etten
The nearest airport, Elmira/Corning Regional, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 163 miles away.
The best schools in and around Van Etten
Schools across Van Etten average an A−, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Spencer-van Etten Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Howard A Hanlon Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Spencer-van Etten Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Spencer-van Etten High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Odessa-montour Junior/senior High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Van Etten school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Van Etten 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 Van Etten against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Van Etten
Is Van Etten a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Van Etten ranks 17,814th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, good schools, and transit, 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 Van Etten expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $146,354. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $64,554 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Van Etten safe?
Yes, Van Etten is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $156 per resident a year.
Compare Van Etten with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Van Etten. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Van Etten 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.
Van Etten detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Van Etten: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Van Etten: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Van Etten: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Van Etten: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Van Etten 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.