Best PlacesForest Hills, Queens, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Forest Hills, Queens, 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.
Forest Hills, Queens ranks 755th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Forest Hills, Queens
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.
Forest Hills, Queens' strengths and weaknesses
Where Forest Hills, Queens ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
Where Forest Hills, Queens ranks low
- Short commute44.8 minutes each way, better than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Forest Hills, Queens
A household needs to earn about $185,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Forest Hills, Queens home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $114,123, 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 Forest Hills, Queens' effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Forest Hills, Queens
Forest Hills, Queens 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 Forest Hills, Queens.
Who works in Forest Hills, Queens, and how
Work in Forest Hills, Queens centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 27%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 50%
Life in Forest Hills, Queens
The coast is about 16 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Forest Hills, Queens, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Forest Hills, Queens, month by month
Forest Hills, Queens sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 45° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 70° | 61° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Forest Hills, Queens
Laguardia sits about 4 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 Forest Hills, Queens
Schools across Forest Hills, Queens average a B+, better than 90% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Ps 196 Grand Central ParkwayA+ · 94% proficient
- Academy For Excellence Through The Arts (the)A+ · 93% proficient
- Ps 144 Col Jeromus RemsenA+ · 93% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jhs 157 Stephen A HalseyA+ · 77% proficient
- Jhs 190 Russell SageA · 66% proficient
- Knowledge And Power Preparatory Academy ViC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Queens Metropolitan High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Forest Hills High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning SchoolA · 76% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Forest Hills, Queens school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Forest Hills, Queens 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 Forest Hills, Queens against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Forest Hills, Queens suits
Common questions about living in Forest Hills, Queens
Is Forest Hills, Queens a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Forest Hills, Queens ranks 755th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on big-city access, transit, and walkability, 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 Forest Hills, Queens expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $711,738. The overall cost of living runs about 27% above the national average. Set against a $114,123 median income, cost of living beats 65% of neighborhoods.
Is Forest Hills, Queens safe?
Yes, Forest Hills, Queens is safer than 92% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $245 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Forest Hills, Queens?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 29. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 24% of neighborhoods.
Is Forest Hills, Queens good for families?
Schools beat 90% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 92%, and childcare runs $1,344 a month.
Compare Forest Hills, Queens with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Forest Hills, Queens. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Forest Hills, Queens 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.
Forest Hills, Queens detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Forest Hills, Queens: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Forest Hills, Queens: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Forest Hills, Queens: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Forest Hills, Queens: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Forest Hills, Queens 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.