Best PlacesBay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn ranks 1,323rd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn
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.
Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- School gradeA, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of neighborhoods
Where Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn ranks low
- Short commute44.6 minutes each way, better than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn
A household needs to earn about $251,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $99,115, 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 Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn
Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn.
Who works in Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, and how
Work in Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 26%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 52%
Life in Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn
Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 2 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, month by month
Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 71° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn
Newark Liberty International sits about 9 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 23.5 million passengers in 2025, with 242 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn
Schools across Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn average an A, better than 98% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Brooklyn School Of InquiryA+ · 93% proficient
- Ps 185 Walter KassenbrockA+ · 80% proficient
- Ps/is 104 Fort Hamilton School (the)A+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Christa Mcauliffe School (the) /is 187A+ · 95% proficient
- Jhs 259 William MckinleyA+ · 68% proficient
- Madeleine Brennan School (the)A · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- High School Of Telecommunication Arts And TechnologyA+ · 94% proficient
- Fort Hamilton High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Professional Pathways High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn 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 Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn suits
Common questions about living in Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn
Is Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn ranks 1,323rd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on big-city access, good schools, and transit, and lowest on long commutes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $966,435. The overall cost of living runs about 37% above the national average. Set against a $99,115 median income, cost of living beats 41% of neighborhoods.
Is Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn safe?
Yes, Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn is safer than 91% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $241 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 26. That works out to about 58 pleasant days a year, more than 6% of neighborhoods.
Is Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn good for families?
Schools beat 98% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 91%, and childcare runs $1,344 a month.
Compare Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn 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.
Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn 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.