Best PlacesCharleston, Staten Island, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Charleston, Staten Island, 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.
Charleston, Staten Island ranks 2,947th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Charleston, Staten Island
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.
Charleston, Staten Island's strengths and weaknesses
Where Charleston, Staten Island ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- School gradeB+, better than 90% of neighborhoods
- Household income$130,522 median, better than 85% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
Where Charleston, Staten Island ranks low
- Short commute45.2 minutes each way, better than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Charleston, Staten Island
A household needs to earn about $201,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Charleston, Staten Island home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $130,522, 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 Charleston, Staten Island's effective rate of 1.04%, 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 Charleston, Staten Island
Charleston, Staten Island 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 Charleston, Staten Island.
Who works in Charleston, Staten Island, and how
Work in Charleston, Staten Island centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 59%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 26%
Life in Charleston, Staten Island
Charleston, Staten Island has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 92% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 4 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Charleston, Staten Island and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Charleston, Staten Island, month by month
Charleston, Staten Island sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 35° | 29° |
| April | 64° | 54° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 78° | 71° |
| October | 68° | 59° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Charleston, Staten Island
Newark Liberty International sits about 11 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 Charleston, Staten Island
Schools across Charleston, Staten Island average a B+, better than 90% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Brooklyn School Of InquiryA+ · 93% proficient
Top middle schools
- Knowledge And Power Preparatory Academy ViC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Professional Pathways High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Charleston, Staten Island school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Charleston, Staten Island 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 Charleston, Staten Island against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Charleston, Staten Island
Is Charleston, Staten Island a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Charleston, Staten Island ranks 2,947th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on tree cover, big-city access, and good schools, 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 Charleston, Staten Island expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $744,926. The overall cost of living runs about 27% above the national average. Set against a $130,522 median income, cost of living beats 72% of neighborhoods.
Is Charleston, Staten Island safe?
Yes, Charleston, Staten Island is safer than 65% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $412 per resident a year.
Compare Charleston, Staten Island with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Charleston, Staten Island. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Charleston, Staten Island 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.
Charleston, Staten Island detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Charleston, Staten Island: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Charleston, Staten Island: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Charleston, Staten Island: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Charleston, Staten Island: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Charleston, Staten Island 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.