Best Places11231, NY Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 11231, 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.

See the map of best neighborhoods

11231 ranks 1,423rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.

#1,423
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in 11231

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 11231 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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.

11231's strengths and weaknesses

#1423Best US zip overall
Top 1%Big-city access
Top 1%Biking
Top 1%Walkability
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 11231 with other zip codes.

Where 11231 ranks high

  • Big-city accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
  • BikingBetter than 99% of zip codes
  • WalkabilityBetter than 99% of zip codes
  • TransitBetter than 99% of zip codes
  • Household income$155,399 median, better than 96% of zip codes

Where 11231 ranks low

  • Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
  • Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of zip codes
  • QuietBetter than only 3% of zip codes
  • Short commute36.2 minutes each way, better than only 9% of zip codes
  • Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 11231

A household needs to earn about $390,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 11231 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $155,399, so buying stretches a typical household.

Income to buy the median home
$390,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$9,098
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $1,558,195 home
Median rent
$2,581
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$7,945
Property tax$634
Homeowners insurance$519

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 11231's effective rate of 0.49%, 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.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in 11231

11231's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.

Median age
40
about the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
13%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.3
below the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1820%
18 to 3422%
35 to 4923%
50 to 6421%
65 and older13%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 11231.


Who works in 11231, and how

Work in 11231 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.

Work from home
32%
above the national average
Unemployment
4.6%
about the national average
Job growth
+2.9%
/y 2019-2023, faster than the national pace

Largest industries

Professional & technical23%
Health care & social14%
Education10%
Retail trade8%
Finance & insurance8%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 11%
  • Work from home 32%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 58%

Life in 11231

11231 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of zip codes and more late-night spots per resident than 95% of zip codes. The coast is about 7 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 11231 and thins out in others, which the map shows.

Places to eat and drink
309
restaurants, bars, and fast food, about 83.8 per 10,000 residents, more than 85% of zip codes
Coffee shops
56
about 15.2 per 10,000 residents, more than 89% of zip codes
Parkland
63 acres
about 1.7 acres per 1,000 residents, more than 58% of zip codes
Open past 10pm
~113
food and drink venues open late, about 30.6 per 10,000 residents, more than 95% of zip codes
To the coast
7 min
drive to the nearest ocean beaches

What the weather is like in 11231, month by month

11231 sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January43°35°28°
April65°53°44°
July88°78°70°
October69°60°52°

Flying in and out of 11231

Newark Liberty International sits about 9 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 23.5 million passengers in 2025, with 242 nonstop destinations.

Nearest airport
EWR
Newark Liberty International, about 9 miles
Airport size
Large hub
14th-busiest in the US, 242 nonstop destinations
Average drive
13 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 11231

Schools across 11231 average a B+, better than 86% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 11231 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


11231 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 11231 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Who 11231 suits

Families

Schools beat 86% of zip codes.

See the families priority ↑

Remote workers

32% already work from home.

See the remote-work priority ↑

Retirees

Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.

See the retirees priority ↑


Common questions about living in 11231

Is 11231 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 11231 ranks 1,423rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on big-city access, biking, and walkability, and lowest on taxes and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 11231 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $1,558,195. The overall cost of living runs about 90% above the national average. Set against a $155,399 median income, cost of living beats 55% of zip codes.

Is 11231 safe?

11231 is safer than 53% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $323 per resident a year.

What is the weather like in 11231?

July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 28. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 36% of zip codes.

Is 11231 good for families?

Schools beat 86% of zip codes, crime safety beats 53%, and childcare runs $1,344 a month.


Compare 11231 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 11231. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 11231 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.

11231 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 11231: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 11231: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 11231: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 11231: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

11231 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.