Best PlacesWest Bainbridge, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Bainbridge, 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.
West Bainbridge ranks 32,181st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Noise pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on good schools.
The best neighborhoods in West Bainbridge
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.
West Bainbridge's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Bainbridge ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 90% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 82% of towns
Where West Bainbridge ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Bainbridge
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Bainbridge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,080, 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 West Bainbridge's effective rate of 1.75%, 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 West Bainbridge
West Bainbridge 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 West Bainbridge.
Who works in West Bainbridge, and how
Work in West Bainbridge centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in West Bainbridge
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Bainbridge.
What the weather is like in West Bainbridge, month by month
West Bainbridge sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 25° | 17° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 60° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 42° |
Flying in and out of West Bainbridge
The nearest airport, Greater Binghamton/Edwin A Link Field, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 133 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Bainbridge
Schools across West Bainbridge average an A, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Afton Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Bainbridge-guilford High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Afton Junior/senior High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Bainbridge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Bainbridge 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 West Bainbridge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Bainbridge
Is West Bainbridge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Bainbridge ranks 32,181st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, heat safety, and clean air, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Bainbridge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $120,406. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $75,080 median income, cost of living beats 54% of towns.
Is West Bainbridge safe?
Yes, West Bainbridge is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $288 per resident a year.
Compare West Bainbridge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Bainbridge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Bainbridge 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.
West Bainbridge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Bainbridge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Bainbridge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Bainbridge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Bainbridge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Bainbridge 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.