Best Places12414, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 12414, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
12414 ranks 17,851st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. An overheated housing market pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on heat safety.
The best neighborhoods in 12414
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.
12414's strengths and weaknesses
Where 12414 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of zip codes
- School gradeB+, better than 86% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 82% of zip codes
Where 12414 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 12414
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 12414 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $70,704; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 12414's effective rate of 1.52%, 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 12414
12414 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 12414.
Who works in 12414, and how
Work in 12414 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in 12414
12414 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 84% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 12414 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 12414, month by month
12414 sees roughly 95 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 12414
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 65 miles away.
The best schools in and around 12414
Schools across 12414 average a B+, better than 86% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Catskill Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Edward J Arthur Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Germantown Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Catskill Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Coxsackie-athens Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Cairo-durham Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Cairo-durham High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Coxsackie-athens High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Catskill Senior High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 12414 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
12414 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 12414 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 12414
Is 12414 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 12414 ranks 17,851st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, tree cover, and clean air, and lowest on an overheated housing market 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 12414 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $271,182. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $70,704 median income, cost of living beats 28% of zip codes.
Is 12414 safe?
Yes, 12414 is safer than 65% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $277 per resident a year.
Compare 12414 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 12414. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 12414 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.
12414 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 12414: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 12414: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 12414: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 12414: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
12414 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.