WNY (WKBW) - That's according to Business First's new socioeconomic climate ratings, which are based on an analysis of data from the New York State Education Department and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Rounding out the top five on the affluence scale are Niskayuna, Fayetteville-Manlius, Guilderland and Voorheesville. The socioeconomic ratings have no impact on Business First's academic rankings of Upstate school systems (which will be released tomorrow), but are designed to illuminate another facet of each district's overall profile.
Upstate's 430 districts have been assessed in three areas:
• The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches.
• The percentage of 5- to 17-year-olds living below the federally designated poverty rate.
• The combined wealth ratio, a measure of property and income wealth within each district. A ratio of 1.000 equals the state average.
The best scores go to districts with high wealth ratios and low percentages for free lunches and poverty.
Click on this link for a complete searchable database:
http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2012/10/24/pittsford-and-niskayuna-lead-upstate.html
