Best Places12156, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 12156, 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.
12156 ranks 6,597th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 12156
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.
12156's strengths and weaknesses
Where 12156 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 96% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of zip codes
Where 12156 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,317 a month, better than only 14% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 17% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 12156
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 12156 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $108,090, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 12156's effective rate of 1.75%, 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 12156
12156 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 12156.
Who works in 12156, and how
Work in 12156 centers on education and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 12156
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 12156.
What the weather is like in 12156, month by month
12156 sees roughly 67 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.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 27° | 18° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of 12156
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 66 miles away.
The best schools in and around 12156
Schools across 12156 average an A, better than 96% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Castleton Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Ichabod Crane Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ichabod Crane Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Ichabod Crane Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Maple Hill Junior/senior High SchoolA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 12156 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
12156 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 12156 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 12156
Is 12156 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 12156 ranks 6,597th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, good schools, and health care access, and lowest on noise and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 12156 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $286,361. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $108,090 median income, cost of living beats 78% of zip codes.
Is 12156 safe?
Yes, 12156 is safer than 96% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $156 per resident a year.
Compare 12156 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 12156. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 12156 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.
12156 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 12156: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 12156: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 12156: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 12156: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
12156 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.