Best Places11742, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 11742, 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.
11742 ranks 3,640th 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 11742
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.
11742's strengths and weaknesses
Where 11742 ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 97% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Household income$138,171 median, better than 94% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 11742 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,476 a month, better than only 7% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 11742
A household needs to earn about $151,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 11742 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $138,171; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 11742's effective rate of 1.74%, 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 11742
11742's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 11742.
Who works in 11742, and how
Work in 11742 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 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 11742
The coast is about 16 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 11742, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 11742, month by month
11742 sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of 11742
The nearest airport, Long Island MacArthur, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John F Kennedy International, about 40 miles away.
The best schools in and around 11742
Schools across 11742 average an A, better than 97% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Tamarac Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Waverly Avenue SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Nokomis SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Seneca Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Saxton Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Sagamore Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Sachem High School NorthA+ · 96% proficient
- Sachem High School EastA+ · 95% proficient
- Patchogue-medford High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 11742 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
11742 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 11742 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 11742
Is 11742 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 11742 ranks 3,640th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, few empty homes, and big-city access, and lowest on car insurance costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 11742 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $510,767. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $138,171 median income, cost of living beats 86% of zip codes.
Is 11742 safe?
Yes, 11742 is safer than 81% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $293 per resident a year.
Compare 11742 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 11742. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 11742 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.
11742 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 11742: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 11742: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 11742: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 11742: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
11742 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.