Best Places12601, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 12601, 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.
12601 ranks 13,057th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 12601
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.
12601's strengths and weaknesses
Where 12601 ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of zip codes
Where 12601 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 12601
A household needs to earn about $92,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 12601 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $76,399, 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 12601's effective rate of 2.04%, 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.
Who lives in 12601
12601 runs younger 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 12601.
Who works in 12601, and how
Work in 12601 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in 12601
12601 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 86% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 12601 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 12601, month by month
12601 sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 12601
The nearest airport, New York Stewart International, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Laguardia, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around 12601
Schools across 12601 average a B−, better than 71% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Netherwood SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Arthur S May SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Sheafe Road Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Orville A Todd Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Lagrange Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Highland Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Spackenkill High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Arlington High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Franklin D Roosevelt Senior High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 12601 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
12601 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 12601 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 12601 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 12601
Is 12601 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 12601 ranks 13,057th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and big-city access, and lowest on property taxes 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 12601 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $301,570. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $76,399 median income, cost of living beats 32% of zip codes.
Is 12601 safe?
12601 is safer than 50% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $362 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 12601?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 20. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 19% of zip codes.
Is 12601 good for families?
Schools beat 71% of zip codes, crime safety beats 50%, and childcare runs $1,308 a month.
Compare 12601 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 12601. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 12601 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.
12601 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 12601: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 12601: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 12601: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 12601: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
12601 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.