Best PlacesWest Laurens, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Laurens, 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 Laurens ranks 22,892nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West Laurens
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 Laurens' strengths and weaknesses
Where West Laurens ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 86% of towns
Where West Laurens ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Laurens
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Laurens home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,554, 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 West Laurens' effective rate of 1.38%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in West Laurens
West Laurens runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Laurens.
Who works in West Laurens, and how
Work in West Laurens centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in West Laurens
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Laurens.
What the weather is like in West Laurens, month by month
West Laurens 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 Laurens
The nearest airport, Greater Binghamton/Edwin A Link Field, is about 47 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 134 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Laurens
Schools across West Laurens average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top high schools
- Laurens Central SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Morris Central SchoolA · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Laurens school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Laurens 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 Laurens against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Laurens
Is West Laurens a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Laurens ranks 22,892nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, low disaster risk, and health care access, and lowest on cell coverage and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Laurens expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $166,800. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $74,554 median income, cost of living beats 51% of towns.
Is West Laurens safe?
West Laurens is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $424 per resident a year.
Compare West Laurens with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Laurens. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Laurens 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 Laurens detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Laurens: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Laurens: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Laurens: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Laurens: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Laurens 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.