Best Places11940, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 11940, 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.
11940 ranks 2,860th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 11940
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.
11940's strengths and weaknesses
Where 11940 ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Household income$146,248 median, better than 95% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 11940 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,476 a month, better than only 7% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Short commute33.1 minutes each way, better than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 11940
A household needs to earn about $200,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 11940 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $146,248, 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 11940's effective rate of 1.83%, 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 11940
11940 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 11940.
Who works in 11940, and how
Work in 11940 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 11940
The coast is about 14 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 11940, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 11940, month by month
11940 sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 44, 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 | 44° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of 11940
The nearest airport, Long Island MacArthur, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John F Kennedy International, about 55 miles away.
The best schools in and around 11940
Schools across 11940 average an A+, better than 99% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- East Moriches Elementary SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Moriches SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top high schools
- Westhampton Beach Senior High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Center Moriches High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Patchogue-medford High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 11940 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
11940 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 11940 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 11940
Is 11940 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 11940 ranks 2,860th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, fast internet, and low crime, and lowest on an overheated housing market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 11940 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $670,940. The overall cost of living runs about 31% above the national average. Set against a $146,248 median income, cost of living beats 84% of zip codes.
Is 11940 safe?
Yes, 11940 is safer than 96% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $165 per resident a year.
Compare 11940 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 11940. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 11940 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.
11940 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 11940: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 11940: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 11940: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 11940: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
11940 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.