Best PlacesWells, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wells, 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.
Wells ranks 22,338th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wells
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.
Wells' strengths and weaknesses
Where Wells ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of towns
Where Wells ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- Short commute37.7 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wells
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wells home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,198, 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 Wells' effective rate of 1.01%, 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 Wells
Wells 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 Wells.
Who works in Wells, and how
Work in Wells centers on public administration and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Wells
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wells.
What the weather is like in Wells, month by month
Wells sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 14° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 58° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Wells
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 129 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wells
Schools across Wells average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Northville Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Lake Pleasant SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Northville High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wells school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wells 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 Wells against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wells
Is Wells a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wells ranks 22,338th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, quiet, and tree cover, and lowest on the weather and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wells expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $259,181. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $73,198 median income, cost of living beats 34% of towns.
Is Wells safe?
Yes, Wells is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $239 per resident a year.
Compare Wells with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wells. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wells 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.
Wells detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wells: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wells: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wells: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wells: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wells 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.