Best Places12734, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 12734, 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.
12734 ranks 25,420th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 12734
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.
12734's strengths and weaknesses
Where 12734 ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 77% of zip codes
Where 12734 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 12734
A household needs to earn about $88,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 12734 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $71,893, 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 12734's effective rate of 2.09%, 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 12734
12734 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 12734.
Who works in 12734, and how
Work in 12734 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 12734
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 12734.
What the weather is like in 12734, month by month
12734 sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 17° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 12734
The nearest airport, New York Stewart International, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 79 miles away.
The best schools in and around 12734
Schools across 12734 average a B−, better than 68% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Liberty Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Kenneth L Rutherford SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top middle schools
- Liberty Middle SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Robert J Kaiser Middle SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Liberty High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Monticello High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 12734 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
12734 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 12734 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 12734
Is 12734 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 12734 ranks 25,420th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on tree cover, heat safety, and clean air, and lowest on property taxes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 12734 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $287,217. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $71,893 median income, cost of living beats 45% of zip codes.
Is 12734 safe?
12734 is safer than 20% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $471 per resident a year.
Compare 12734 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 12734. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 12734 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.
12734 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 12734: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 12734: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 12734: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 12734: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
12734 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.