Best PlacesWest Valley, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Valley, 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 Valley ranks 11,981st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Valley
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 Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Valley ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 92% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 83% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 81% of towns
Where West Valley ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,088 a month, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Valley
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,061, 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 Valley's effective rate of 1.80%, 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 Valley
West Valley 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 Valley.
Who works in West Valley, and how
Work in West Valley centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in West Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Valley.
What the weather is like in West Valley, month by month
West Valley sees roughly 106 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 17° |
| April | 52° | 42° | 34° |
| July | 76° | 67° | 59° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 42° |
Flying in and out of West Valley
The nearest airport, Buffalo Niagara International, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 157 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Valley
Schools across West Valley average an A, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ellicottville Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Springville Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Cattaraugus-little Valley Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Griffith Institute Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Griffith Institute High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Valley 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 Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Valley
Is West Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Valley ranks 11,981st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, heat safety, and good schools, and lowest on property taxes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $194,545. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $71,061 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is West Valley safe?
Yes, West Valley is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $118 per resident a year.
Compare West Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Valley 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 Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Valley 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.