Best Places12401, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 12401, 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.
12401 ranks 12,998th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 12401
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.
12401's strengths and weaknesses
Where 12401 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of zip codes
Where 12401 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,308 a month, better than only 15% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 12401
A household needs to earn about $96,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 12401 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $75,910, 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 12401's effective rate of 1.68%, 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 12401
12401's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 12401.
Who works in 12401, and how
Work in 12401 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 12401
12401 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 89% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 12401 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 12401, month by month
12401 sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 12401
The nearest airport, New York Stewart International, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around 12401
Schools across 12401 average a B, better than 81% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Robert R Graves SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Woodstock Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Chancellor Livingston Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bulkeley Middle SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Jhs 259 William MckinleyA+ · 68% proficient
- Rondout Valley Intermediate SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Rhinebeck Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Red Hook Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Kingston High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 12401 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
12401 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 12401 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 12401 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 12401
Is 12401 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 12401 ranks 12,998th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, walkability, and biking, 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 12401 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $327,467. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $75,910 median income, cost of living beats 34% of zip codes.
Is 12401 safe?
12401 is safer than 38% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $388 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 12401?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 21. That works out to about 99 pleasant days a year, more than 62% of zip codes.
Is 12401 good for families?
Schools beat 81% of zip codes, crime safety beats 38%, and childcare runs $1,308 a month.
Compare 12401 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 12401. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 12401 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.
12401 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 12401: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 12401: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 12401: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 12401: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
12401 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.