Best Places10970, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 10970, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
10970 ranks 8,534th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 10970
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.
10970's strengths and weaknesses
Where 10970 ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 10970 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,476 a month, better than only 7% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 10970
A household needs to earn about $144,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 10970 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $114,815, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 10970's effective rate of 2.04%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 10970
10970 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 10970.
Who works in 10970, and how
Work in 10970 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 10970
The coast is about 34 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 10970, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 10970, month by month
10970 sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of 10970
The nearest airport, Westchester County, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Laguardia, about 30 miles away.
The best schools in and around 10970
Schools across 10970 average a C+, better than 57% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Sloatsburg Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Thiells Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Willow Grove Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Suffern Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Fieldstone Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Suffern Senior High SchoolA+ · 97% proficient
- North Rockland High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Ramapo High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 10970 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
10970 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 10970 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 10970
Is 10970 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 10970 ranks 8,534th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on big-city access, fast internet, and few empty homes, and lowest on property taxes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 10970 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $469,748. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $114,815 median income, cost of living beats 67% of zip codes.
Is 10970 safe?
Yes, 10970 is safer than 69% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $266 per resident a year.
Compare 10970 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 10970. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 10970 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.
10970 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 10970: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 10970: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 10970: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 10970: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
10970 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.