Best Places11788, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 11788, 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.
11788 ranks 1,403rd 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 11788
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.
11788's strengths and weaknesses
Where 11788 ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of zip codes
- Household income$165,847 median, better than 97% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of zip codes
Where 11788 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,476 a month, better than only 7% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 11788
A household needs to earn about $190,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 11788 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $165,847, 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 11788's effective rate of 1.58%, 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 11788
11788 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 11788.
Who works in 11788, and how
Work in 11788 centers on education 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 81%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 11788
11788 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of zip codes. The coast is about 13 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 11788 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 11788, month by month
11788 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 11788
The nearest airport, Long Island MacArthur, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John F Kennedy International, about 33 miles away.
The best schools in and around 11788
Schools across 11788 average an A+, better than 99% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Bretton Woods Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Forest Brook Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Pines Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
Top middle schools
- Great Hollow Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
- Hauppauge Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- North Middle SchoolD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Smithtown High School-westA+ · 98% proficient
- Hauppauge High SchoolA+ · 97% proficient
- Brentwood High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 11788 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
11788 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 11788 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 11788
Is 11788 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 11788 ranks 1,403rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, high incomes, 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 11788 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $656,943. The overall cost of living runs about 23% above the national average. Set against a $165,847 median income, cost of living beats 94% of zip codes.
Is 11788 safe?
Yes, 11788 is safer than 70% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
Compare 11788 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 11788. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 11788 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.
11788 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 11788: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 11788: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 11788: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 11788: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
11788 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.