Best PlacesCarroll Gardens, Brooklyn, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn ranks 315th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Carroll Gardens, 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.
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Household income$180,758 median, better than 96% of neighborhoods
Where Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Short commute35.4 minutes each way, better than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
A household needs to earn about $383,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $180,758, 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 Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn'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 Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.
Who works in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, and how
Work in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn centers on professional & technical 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 9%
- Work from home 34%
- Transit, walk, or bike 56%
Life in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of neighborhoods and more late-night spots per resident than 79% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 7 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, month by month
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 35° | 28° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 69° | 60° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Carroll Gardens, 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 Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Schools across Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn average a B+, better than 90% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Brooklyn School Of InquiryA+ · 93% proficient
- Ps 58 Carroll (the)A+ · 89% proficient
- Ps 32 Samuel Mills SproleA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Knowledge And Power Preparatory Academy ViC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Summit Academy Charter SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Brooklyn Collaborative StudiesA− · 65% proficient
- Professional Pathways High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carroll Gardens, 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 Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 71% of neighborhoods and 34% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Is Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn ranks 315th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on big-city access, walkability, and transit, and lowest on taxes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,543,339. The overall cost of living runs about 93% above the national average. Set against a $180,758 median income, cost of living beats 71% of neighborhoods.
Is Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn safe?
Yes, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn is safer than 73% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $367 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 28. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 33% of neighborhoods.
Is Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn good for families?
Schools beat 90% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 73%, and childcare runs $1,344 a month.
Compare Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carroll Gardens, 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.
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carroll Gardens, 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.