Best PlacesWest Danby, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Danby, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
West Danby ranks 30,742nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Danby
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 Danby's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Danby ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 85% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 82% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of towns
Where West Danby ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,317 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Danby
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Danby home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $57,489, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Danby's effective rate of 1.83%, 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 West Danby
West Danby 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 Danby.
Who works in West Danby, and how
Work in West Danby centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in West Danby
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Danby.
What the weather is like in West Danby, month by month
West Danby sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 17° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of West Danby
The nearest airport, Ithaca Tompkins International, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 167 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Danby
Schools across West Danby average a B, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Spencer-van Etten Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Cayuga Heights Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Newfield Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dewitt Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Spencer-van Etten Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Newfield Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Ithaca Senior High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Newfield Senior High SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
- Spencer-van Etten High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Danby school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Danby 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 Danby against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Danby
Is West Danby a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Danby ranks 30,742nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, population health, and clean air, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Danby expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,510. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $57,489 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is West Danby safe?
Yes, West Danby is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $241 per resident a year.
Compare West Danby with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Danby. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Danby 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 Danby detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Danby: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Danby: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Danby: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Danby: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Danby 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.