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Big city living isn't for everyone--but at the same time, urban areas certainly have their perks.
There's the culture, the food, the arts, the food, the energy, and you know, the food. But there are drawbacks. There's traffic, expensive parking, expensive housing--pretty much, expensive everything, depending on which big city you're looking at.
But that's where the suburbs come in--they have all of the benefits of being near big cities, without actually having to be big cities.
Of course, not all suburbs of Rochester are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado...
Here are the 10 best suburbs to live around Rochester for 2022:
What's the best suburb of Rochester? Victor ranks as the best suburb of Rochester for 2022 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Victor, you're probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.
We'll tell you what makes each of these 10 Rochester 'burbs better than the rest--but first, a bit about our methodology.
Note: This result may differ from our state wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a larger selection of suburbs.
Feel free to check out some more reading about New York:
The 10 Best Rochester Suburbs To Live For 2022
Victor is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Rochester area. We'll tell you the good about "Awesome Victor."
Everyone here is rich; families average $77,917 a year, which is the highest in the Rochester region. And only 1.73% are out of work. Homes average more than $188,500 each.
/10
Population: 2,709
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $77,917
Unemployment Rate: 1.7%
Poverty Rate: 3.7%
More on Victor: Real Estate | Data
Churchville is the second best 'burb we looked at near Rochester for 2022.
It ranks 4th for incomes in the area and only 0.51% of residents lack insurance, good for best.
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Population: 2,137
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 2)
Median Income: $71,250
Unemployment Rate: 4.8%
Poverty Rate: 4.7%
More on Churchville: Real Estate | Data
Here in Fairport, it's really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you'll see in the Rochester metro area.
The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.
But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in Fairport.
/10
Population: 5,336
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Income: $67,337
Unemployment Rate: 3.9%
Poverty Rate: 14.2%
More on Fairport: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Honeoye Falls ranks as the 4th best suburb of Rochester for 2022.
You won't find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Honeoye Falls and the schools are some of the best around.
/10
Population: 2,783
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Income: $72,721
Unemployment Rate: 8.0%
Poverty Rate: 8.7%
More on Honeoye Falls: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Coming in as the fifth best is Avon.
Avon gets kudos for having the 6th most expensive homes in the Rochester area, where houses sell for an average of $156,800. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
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Population: 3,271
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 3)
Median Income: $67,428
Unemployment Rate: 0.5%
Poverty Rate: 10.8%
More on Avon: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Spencerport is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here's why.
Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 4.1% which is 10th best in the area.
According to online reports, Spencerport is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Rochester area, meaning you need to get in soon.
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Population: 3,656
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 1)
Median Income: $72,043
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%
Poverty Rate: 5.3%
More on Spencerport: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Lima.
Lima schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.
And, it's only 18.2 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
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Population: 2,164
Rank Last Year: 7 (No Change)
Median Income: $57,258
Unemployment Rate: 1.0%
Poverty Rate: 7.0%
More on Lima: Real Estate | Data
Caledonia is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.
A solid 2.16% of people lack insurance, good for 7th in the area.
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Population: 2,133
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 1)
Median Income: $63,500
Unemployment Rate: 0.6%
Poverty Rate: 5.3%
More on Caledonia: Real Estate | Data
Is 'Everything Better In Hilton?'
Almost.
It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it's really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.
/10
Population: 5,811
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 3)
Median Income: $64,688
Unemployment Rate: 8.8%
Poverty Rate: 11.4%
More on Hilton: Real Estate | Data | Photos
And rounding out the top ten for 2022 is Scottsville.
This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It's far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.
/10
Population: 2,103
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 1)
Median Income: $60,469
Unemployment Rate: 2.6%
Poverty Rate: 15.2%
More on Scottsville: Real Estate | Data
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Rochester for 2022
Figuring out the best suburbs around Rochester was pretty simple; we just needed to list several things that people like, and then find out which cities have the most of those things.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:
- Low unemployment rate
- High Median household incomes
- Population density (lots of things to do)
- High home values
- A lot of college educated people
- Low poverty
- High rate of insured families
Then we used the newest American Community Survey data for 2016-2020 to research each suburb.
FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Rochester.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 19 suburbs to evaluate around Rochester.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 19 in each category, where 1 was the "best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index the "Best Suburb near Rochester." We're lookin' at you, Victor. You can download the data here.
Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the best of the best. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.
Summary: Welcome to the Best Rochester 'Burbs of 2022
We said it once and we'll say it again--life in the big city isn't for everyone. At least not all the time.
So if you're hankering for some of the amenities of a larger city like Rochester, but don't want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might just be for you.
For more New York reading, check out:
- Best Places To Retire In New York
- Richest Cities In New York
- Safest Places In New York According To Science
Detailed List Of The Best Rochester Suburbs
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victor, NY | 2,709 |
| 2 | Churchville, NY | 2,137 |
| 3 | Fairport, NY | 5,336 |
| 4 | Honeoye Falls, NY | 2,783 |
| 5 | Avon, NY | 3,271 |
| 6 | Spencerport, NY | 3,656 |
| 7 | Lima, NY | 2,164 |
| 8 | Caledonia, NY | 2,133 |
| 9 | Hilton, NY | 5,811 |
| 10 | Scottsville, NY | 2,103 |
| 11 | Canandaigua, NY | 10,241 |
| 12 | Palmyra, NY | 3,361 |
| 13 | Geneseo, NY | 8,218 |
| 14 | Le Roy, NY | 4,220 |
| 15 | Webster, NY | 5,666 |
| 16 | East Rochester, NY | 6,530 |
| 17 | Newark, NY | 8,868 |
| 18 | Brockport, NY | 8,142 |
| 19 | Albion, NY | 5,615 |
