Best PlacesWest Potsdam, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Potsdam, 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 Potsdam ranks 27,797th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Potsdam
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 Potsdam's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Potsdam ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 92% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 78% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 77% of towns
Where West Potsdam ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Potsdam
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Potsdam home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,859, 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 Potsdam's effective rate of 2.54%, 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 7 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 Potsdam
West Potsdam 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 Potsdam.
Who works in West Potsdam, and how
Work in West Potsdam centers on education and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in West Potsdam
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Potsdam.
What the weather is like in West Potsdam, month by month
West Potsdam sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 20° | 10° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 32° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 58° |
| October | 63° | 50° | 38° |
Flying in and out of West Potsdam
The nearest airport, Ogdensburg International, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 225 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Potsdam
Schools across West Potsdam average an A−, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lawrence Avenue Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Madrid-waddington Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- F S Banford Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- J M Mckenney Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- A A Kingston Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Norwood-norfolk Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- H C Williams Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Norwood-norfolk SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Potsdam Senior High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Potsdam school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Potsdam 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 Potsdam against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Potsdam
Is West Potsdam a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Potsdam ranks 27,797th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, low disaster risk, and clean air, and lowest on property taxes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Potsdam expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $134,211. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $63,859 median income, cost of living beats 31% of towns.
Is West Potsdam safe?
Yes, West Potsdam is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $289 per resident a year.
Compare West Potsdam with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Potsdam. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Potsdam 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 Potsdam detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Potsdam: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Potsdam: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Potsdam: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Potsdam: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Potsdam 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.