Best Places11554, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 11554, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
11554 ranks 2,238th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 11554
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.
11554's strengths and weaknesses
Where 11554 ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Household income$147,265 median, better than 96% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of zip codes
Where 11554 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,476 a month, better than only 7% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Short commute35.1 minutes each way, better than only 11% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 11554
A household needs to earn about $180,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 11554 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $147,265, 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 11554's effective rate of 1.66%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 11554
11554 runs older 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 11554.
Who works in 11554, and how
Work in 11554 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in 11554
11554 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 98% of zip codes. The coast is about 12 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 11554 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 11554, month by month
11554 sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 62° | 51° | 42° |
| July | 86° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 69° | 59° | 50° |
Flying in and out of 11554
John F Kennedy International sits about 13 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 11554
Schools across 11554 average an A+, better than 99% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Mcvey Elementary SchoolA+ · 96% proficient
- Barnum Woods SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Parkway SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
Top middle schools
- Grand Avenue Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Clarke Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
- Wisdom Lane Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Wellington C Mepham High SchoolA+ · 99% proficient
- Division Avenue Senior High SchoolA+ · 99% proficient
- Gen Douglas Macarthur Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 11554 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
11554 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 11554 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 11554 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 11554
Is 11554 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 11554 ranks 2,238th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, big-city access, and fast internet, and lowest on car insurance costs and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 11554 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $615,784. The overall cost of living runs about 33% above the national average. Set against a $147,265 median income, cost of living beats 83% of zip codes.
Is 11554 safe?
Yes, 11554 is safer than 59% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $291 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 11554?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 26. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 35% of zip codes.
Is 11554 good for families?
Schools beat 99% of zip codes, crime safety beats 59%, and childcare runs $1,476 a month.
Compare 11554 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 11554. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 11554 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.
11554 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 11554: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 11554: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 11554: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 11554: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
11554 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.