Best PlacesDumbo, Brooklyn, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dumbo, 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.
Dumbo, Brooklyn ranks 515th 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 Dumbo, 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.
Dumbo, Brooklyn's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dumbo, Brooklyn ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Household income$184,622 median, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
Where Dumbo, Brooklyn ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Short commute32.0 minutes each way, better than only 12% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Dumbo, Brooklyn
A household needs to earn about $386,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dumbo, Brooklyn home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $184,622, 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 Dumbo, Brooklyn's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 Dumbo, Brooklyn
Dumbo, Brooklyn 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 Dumbo, Brooklyn.
Who works in Dumbo, Brooklyn, and how
Work in Dumbo, Brooklyn centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 7%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 61%
Life in Dumbo, Brooklyn
Dumbo, Brooklyn has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of neighborhoods and more late-night spots per resident than 74% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 10 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dumbo, Brooklyn and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Dumbo, Brooklyn, month by month
Dumbo, 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 Dumbo, Brooklyn
Laguardia sits about 8 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 16.3 million passengers in 2025, with 118 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Dumbo, Brooklyn
Schools across Dumbo, Brooklyn average a B+, better than 90% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Brooklyn School Of InquiryA+ · 93% proficient
- Ps 307 Daniel Hale WilliamsB · 48% proficient
- Ps 287 Bailey K AshfordD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mark Twain Is 239 For The Gifted And TalentedA+ · 83% proficient
- Dock Street School For Steam StudiesC− · 30% proficient
- Knowledge And Power Preparatory Academy ViC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Science Skills Center High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Brooklyn Laboratory Charter SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Professional Pathways High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dumbo, Brooklyn school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dumbo, 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 Dumbo, Brooklyn against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Dumbo, Brooklyn
Is Dumbo, Brooklyn a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dumbo, Brooklyn ranks 515th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on big-city access, walkability, and high incomes, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dumbo, Brooklyn expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,508,849. The overall cost of living runs about 115% above the national average. Set against a $184,622 median income, cost of living beats 66% of neighborhoods.
Is Dumbo, Brooklyn safe?
Yes, Dumbo, Brooklyn is safer than 55% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $438 per resident a year.
Compare Dumbo, Brooklyn with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dumbo, Brooklyn. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dumbo, 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.
Dumbo, Brooklyn detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dumbo, Brooklyn: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dumbo, Brooklyn: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dumbo, Brooklyn: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dumbo, Brooklyn: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dumbo, 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.