Best Places12087, NY Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 12087, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.

See the map of best neighborhoods

12087 ranks 7,887th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.

#7,887
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in 12087

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 12087 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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.

12087's strengths and weaknesses

Top 3%Low crime
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 12087 with other zip codes.

Where 12087 ranks high

  • Crime safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
  • Air qualityBetter than 88% of zip codes
  • School gradeB+, better than 85% of zip codes
  • Healthcare accessBetter than 81% of zip codes
  • Tree shadeBetter than 80% of zip codes

Where 12087 ranks low

  • Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of zip codes
  • Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of zip codes
  • WalkabilityBetter than only 15% of zip codes
  • BikingBetter than only 15% of zip codes
  • State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 12087

A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 12087 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $95,614, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$77,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$1,795
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $279,170 home
Median rent
$1,224
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$1,423
Property tax$279
Homeowners insurance$93

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 12087's effective rate of 1.20%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in 12087

12087 runs older than the country.

Median age
51
older than the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
23%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.5
near the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1812%
18 to 3416%
35 to 4922%
50 to 6428%
65 and older23%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 12087.


Who works in 12087, and how

Work in 12087 centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.

Work from home
10%
below the national average
Unemployment
1.4%
below the national average
Job growth
−1.9%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Health care & social12%
Public administration10%
Retail trade10%
Manufacturing9%
Admin & support services8%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 86%
  • Work from home 10%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 4%

Life in 12087

The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 12087.


What the weather is like in 12087, month by month

12087 sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January37°27°18°
April62°49°37°
July87°74°63°
October66°54°43°

Flying in and out of 12087

The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 70 miles away.

Nearest airport
ALB
Albany International, about 22 miles
Airport size
Small hub
86th-busiest in the US, 61 nonstop destinations
Average drive
32 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 12087

Schools across 12087 average a B+, better than 85% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 12087 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


12087 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 12087 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Common questions about living in 12087

Is 12087 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 12087 ranks 7,887th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, clean air, and good schools, and lowest on cell coverage 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 12087 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $279,170. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $95,614 median income, cost of living beats 68% of zip codes.

Is 12087 safe?

Yes, 12087 is safer than 98% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $142 per resident a year.


Compare 12087 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 12087. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 12087 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.

12087 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 12087: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 12087: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 12087: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 12087: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

12087 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.