Best PlacesDutchess County, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dutchess County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dutchess County ranks 237th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $108,826, wages outrun the cost of living, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are property taxes, car insurance costs, and childcare costs.
The best neighborhoods in Dutchess County
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.
The best areas in Dutchess County
The parts of Dutchess County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Red Hook, Rhinebeck & Staatsburg
It is quieter, tree cover is thicker, and more residents vote.
Wappingers Falls, Hopewell Junction & Fishkill
Local pay stretches further and incomes run higher.
Stormville, Pawling & Poughquag
More households have young kids, though streets are more car-dependent.
Pleasant Valley
Fewer homes sit empty and more adults hold degrees.
Lagrangeville, Wingdale & Dover Plains
Biking is worse and commutes are longer.
Hyde Park
Scores close to Lagrangeville, Wingdale & Dover Plains, except that crime runs higher here.
Beacon
Advertised internet is faster and transit reaches more jobs.
Millbrook, Millerton & Clinton Corners
Prices have run up more.
Poughkeepsie
Schools score lower and health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Dutchess County run from about the 15th to the 98th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Dutchess County's strengths and weaknesses
Dutchess County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Big-city access is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Good schools and high incomes follow.
The one real hole is property taxes, near the bottom of the country. Car insurance costs and childcare costs also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Dutchess County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 96% of counties
- Household income$108,826 median, better than 95% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of counties
Where Dutchess County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,308 a month, better than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dutchess County
A household needs to earn about $117,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dutchess County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $108,826; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Dutchess County's effective rate of 1.80%, 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 Dutchess County
Dutchess County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dutchess County.
Who works in Dutchess County, and how
Work in Dutchess County centers on health care & social 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 75%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Dutchess County
Dutchess County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of counties and more parkland per resident than 82% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dutchess County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dutchess County growing, and who is moving in?
Dutchess County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from New York, NY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dutchess County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dutchess County, month by month
Dutchess County sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Dutchess County
The nearest airport, New York Stewart International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Laguardia, about 62 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dutchess County
Schools across Dutchess County average an A−, better than 96% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Noxon Road Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Brinckerhoff Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Haldane Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bulkeley Middle SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Union Vale Middle SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Rombout Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
Top high schools
- Spackenkill High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Haldane High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Rhinebeck Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dutchess County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dutchess County 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 Dutchess County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Dutchess County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Dutchess County
Is Dutchess County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dutchess County ranks 237th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, good schools, and high incomes, and lowest on property taxes and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dutchess County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $395,101. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $108,826 median income, cost of living beats 84% of counties.
Is Dutchess County safe?
Yes, Dutchess County is safer than 92% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $248 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dutchess County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 20. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Dutchess County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Red Hook, Rhinebeck & Staatsburg, Wappingers Falls, Hopewell Junction & Fishkill, and Stormville, Pawling & Poughquag. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Dutchess County good for families?
Schools beat 96% of counties, crime safety beats 92%, and childcare runs $1,308 a month.
Is Dutchess County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 78% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Dutchess County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dutchess County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dutchess County 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.
Dutchess County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dutchess County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dutchess County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dutchess County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dutchess County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dutchess County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.