Living in Elmira, NY
Small city in New York
Elmira is a small city in New York, home to about 26,000 people, with 181,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, much of daily life is walkable. Life moves at a moderate pace, and homes are mostly apartments.
Is Elmira a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Affordable housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $135k and rents for $1,370 a month
- Low natural disaster risk: 6 federally declared disasters since 2000
- Mild summers: highs around 82°F
- Great outdoors: plenty of parks
👎 Cons
- Weaker public schools: test results well below the US average
- Smaller job market: about 181,000 people live within 31 mi
- Cloudier than most places
- Higher taxes: about $3,080 state income tax per resident, 3.18% property tax
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Elmira ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Elmira: common questions
What is the cost of living in Elmira?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $135k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $1,370 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are below the US average (index 94, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Elmira?
New York collects about $3,080 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 3.18% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Elmira safe?
Elmira isn't in the FBI's 2019 city crime table, so Best Life Fit Me counts its safety as average.
How are the schools in Elmira?
Public schools in Elmira test well below the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 14 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Elmira?
Elmira has cold winters: winter days average around 36°F and summer days around 82°F, with roughly 42″ of snow a year.
Does Elmira get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is low, mainly from flooding and tornadoes: 6 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 0.24 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Elmira?
The nearest major airport is SYR, about 79 mi away.
How Elmira scores
Each bar compares Elmira with the other 1,990 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
Places like Elmira
These places have the most similar overall profile across all 24 aspects.
The circle is each place's all-round score out of 100: the average of its 15 quality scores, from red (poor) to green (excellent).
Nearby
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Is Elmira right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.