Best PlacesEast Rock, New Haven, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Rock, New Haven, 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.
East Rock, New Haven ranks 1,745th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in East Rock, New Haven
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.
East Rock, New Haven's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Rock, New Haven ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
Where East Rock, New Haven ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 16% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,583 a month, better than only 17% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in East Rock, New Haven
A household needs to earn about $171,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Rock, New Haven home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $88,589, 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 East Rock, New Haven's effective rate of 2.49%, 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 East Rock, New Haven
East Rock, New Haven 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 East Rock, New Haven.
Who works in East Rock, New Haven, and how
Work in East Rock, New Haven centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 50%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 28%
Life in East Rock, New Haven
East Rock, New Haven has more parkland per resident than 96% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 5 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of East Rock, New Haven and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Rock, New Haven, month by month
East Rock, New Haven sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of East Rock, New Haven
The nearest airport, Tweed/New Haven, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 44 miles away.
The best schools in and around East Rock, New Haven
Schools across East Rock, New Haven average a C−, better than 30% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Worthington Hooker SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- East Rock Community Magnet SchoolD · 19% proficient
- John S. Martinez Sea And Sky Stem SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Wilbur Cross High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- New Haven AcademyD · 20% proficient
- Metropolitan Business AcademyD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Rock, New Haven school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Rock, New Haven 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 East Rock, New Haven against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in East Rock, New Haven
Is East Rock, New Haven a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Rock, New Haven ranks 1,745th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on civic engagement, heat safety, and population health, and lowest on property taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is East Rock, New Haven expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $531,664. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $88,589 median income, cost of living beats 74% of neighborhoods.
Is East Rock, New Haven safe?
East Rock, New Haven is safer than 42% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $390 per resident a year.
Compare East Rock, New Haven with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Rock, New Haven. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Rock, New Haven 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.
East Rock, New Haven detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Rock, New Haven: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Rock, New Haven: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Rock, New Haven: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Rock, New Haven: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Rock, New Haven 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.