Best PlacesWest Dryden, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Dryden, 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 Dryden ranks 13,073rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Dryden
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 Dryden's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Dryden ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
Where West Dryden ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,317 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 15% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Dryden
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Dryden home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,152, 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 Dryden's effective rate of 2.29%, 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 West Dryden
West Dryden runs younger 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 Dryden.
Who works in West Dryden, and how
Work in West Dryden centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in West Dryden
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Dryden.
What the weather is like in West Dryden, month by month
West Dryden sees roughly 70 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 Dryden
The nearest airport, Ithaca Tompkins International, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 172 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Dryden
Schools across West Dryden average a B+, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Raymond C Buckley Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Freeville Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lansing Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Dryden Middle SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Dryden High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Lansing High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Dryden school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Dryden 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 Dryden against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Dryden
Is West Dryden a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Dryden ranks 13,073rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on an educated workforce, heat safety, and population health, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Dryden expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $236,866. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $78,152 median income, cost of living beats 54% of towns.
Is West Dryden safe?
Yes, West Dryden is safer than 67% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $261 per resident a year.
Compare West Dryden with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Dryden. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Dryden 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 Dryden detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Dryden: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Dryden: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Dryden: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Dryden: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Dryden 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.