Best Places11238, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 11238, 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.
11238 ranks 781st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 11238
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.
11238's strengths and weaknesses
Where 11238 ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 99% of zip codes
Where 11238 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Short commute38.5 minutes each way, better than only 5% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,344 a month, better than only 12% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 11238
A household needs to earn about $311,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 11238 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $150,741, 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 11238's effective rate of 0.36%, 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 11238
11238 runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 11238.
Who works in 11238, and how
Work in 11238 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 9%
- Work from home 34%
- Transit, walk, or bike 57%
Life in 11238
11238 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of zip codes and more late-night spots per resident than 94% of zip codes. The coast is about 12 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 11238 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 11238, month by month
11238 sees roughly 76 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.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 35° | 28° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 69° | 60° | 52° |
Flying in and out of 11238
Laguardia sits about 8 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 16.3 million passengers in 2025, with 118 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 11238
Schools across 11238 average a B+, better than 86% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Brooklyn School Of InquiryA+ · 93% proficient
- Ps 11 Purvis J BehanA+ · 88% proficient
- Ps 9 Sarah Smith Garnet School (the)A+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Knowledge And Power Preparatory Academy ViC− · 28% proficient
- Is 340D+ · 25% proficient
- Elijah Stroud Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Professional Pathways High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Gotham Professional Arts AcademyB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 11238 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
11238 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 11238 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 11238 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 34% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 11238
Is 11238 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 11238 ranks 781st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on walkability, big-city access, and transit, 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 11238 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,265,182. The overall cost of living runs about 100% above the national average. Set against a $150,741 median income, cost of living beats 42% of zip codes.
Is 11238 safe?
Yes, 11238 is safer than 61% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $289 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 11238?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 28. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 37% of zip codes.
Is 11238 good for families?
Schools beat 86% of zip codes, crime safety beats 61%, and childcare runs $1,344 a month.
Compare 11238 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 11238. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 11238 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.
11238 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 11238: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 11238: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 11238: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 11238: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
11238 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.