Best Places11212, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 11212, 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.
11212 ranks 20,491st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 11212
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.
11212's strengths and weaknesses
Where 11212 ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 94% of zip codes
Where 11212 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Short commute48.3 minutes each way, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 11212
A household needs to earn about $151,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 11212 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $52,186, 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 11212's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 11212
11212's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 11212.
Who works in 11212, and how
Work in 11212 centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 23%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 72%
Life in 11212
11212 has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most zip codes. The coast is about 14 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 11212 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 11212, month by month
11212 sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 70° |
| October | 70° | 60° | 51° |
Flying in and out of 11212
John F Kennedy International sits about 7 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 31.0 million passengers in 2025, with 249 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 11212
Schools across 11212 average a B+, better than 86% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Brooklyn School Of InquiryA+ · 93% proficient
- Riverdale Avenue Community SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Ps 165 Ida PosnerA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brownsville Collaborative Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Knowledge And Power Preparatory Academy ViC− · 28% proficient
- Mott Hall IvD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Frederick Douglass Academy Vii High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Teachers Preparatory High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Professional Pathways High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 11212 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
11212 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 11212 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 11212 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 11212
Is 11212 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 11212 ranks 20,491st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, big-city access, and walkability, and lowest on car insurance costs and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 11212 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $591,966. The overall cost of living runs about 25% above the national average. Set against a $52,186 median income, cost of living beats 3% of zip codes.
Is 11212 safe?
11212 is safer than 36% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $388 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 11212?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 27. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 24% of zip codes.
Is 11212 good for families?
Schools beat 86% of zip codes, crime safety beats 36%, and childcare runs $1,344 a month.
Compare 11212 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 11212. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 11212 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.
11212 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 11212: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 11212: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 11212: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 11212: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
11212 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.