Best PlacesWhitelaw, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Whitelaw, 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.
Whitelaw ranks 24,465th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Whitelaw
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.
Whitelaw's strengths and weaknesses
Where Whitelaw ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 86% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 83% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 80% of towns
Where Whitelaw ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% 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 Whitelaw
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Whitelaw home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,264, 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 Whitelaw's effective rate of 1.91%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Whitelaw
Whitelaw 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 Whitelaw.
Who works in Whitelaw, and how
Work in Whitelaw centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Whitelaw
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Whitelaw.
What the weather is like in Whitelaw, month by month
Whitelaw sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 27° | 18° |
| April | 60° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Whitelaw
The nearest airport, Syracuse Hancock International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 178 miles away.
The best schools in and around Whitelaw
Schools across Whitelaw average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bridgeport Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Roberts Street Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- South Side Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chittenango Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Chittenango High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Canastota High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Whitelaw school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Whitelaw 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 Whitelaw against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Whitelaw
Is Whitelaw a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Whitelaw ranks 24,465th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, clean air, and good schools, and lowest on a weak job market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Whitelaw expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $174,692. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $75,264 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Whitelaw safe?
Yes, Whitelaw is safer than 83% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $209 per resident a year.
Compare Whitelaw with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Whitelaw. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Whitelaw 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.
Whitelaw detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Whitelaw: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Whitelaw: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Whitelaw: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Whitelaw: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Whitelaw 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.