Best PlacesWorcester, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Worcester, 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.
Worcester ranks 23,135th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Worcester
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.
Worcester's strengths and weaknesses
Where Worcester ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 83% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 82% of towns
Where Worcester ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Worcester
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Worcester home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,006, 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 Worcester's effective rate of 1.61%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Worcester
Worcester runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Worcester.
Who works in Worcester, and how
Work in Worcester centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Worcester
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Worcester.
What the weather is like in Worcester, month by month
Worcester sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 57° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 62° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Worcester
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 114 miles away.
The best schools in and around Worcester
Schools across Worcester average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Joseph B Radez Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- William H Golding Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Cobleskill-richmondville High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Worcester school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Worcester 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 Worcester against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Worcester
Is Worcester a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Worcester ranks 23,135th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, health care access, and low crime, and lowest on property taxes and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Worcester expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $151,816. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $69,006 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Worcester safe?
Yes, Worcester is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $229 per resident a year.
Compare Worcester with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Worcester. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Worcester 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.
Worcester detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Worcester: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Worcester: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Worcester: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Worcester: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Worcester 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.