Best PlacesInwood, Manhattan, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Inwood, Manhattan, 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.
Inwood, Manhattan ranks 3,328th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Inwood, Manhattan
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.
Inwood, Manhattan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Inwood, Manhattan ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- School gradeB, better than 88% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
Where Inwood, Manhattan ranks low
- Short commute45.9 minutes each way, better than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Inwood, Manhattan
A household needs to earn about $137,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Inwood, Manhattan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $66,869, 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 Inwood, Manhattan'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 Inwood, Manhattan
Inwood, Manhattan's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Inwood, Manhattan.
Who works in Inwood, Manhattan, and how
Work in Inwood, Manhattan centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 14%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 71%
Life in Inwood, Manhattan
Inwood, Manhattan has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 78% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 14 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Inwood, Manhattan and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Inwood, Manhattan, month by month
Inwood, Manhattan 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 Inwood, Manhattan
Laguardia sits about 7 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 Inwood, Manhattan
Schools across Inwood, Manhattan average a B, better than 88% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Active Learning Elementary School (the)A+ · 80% proficient
- MuscotaA+ · 75% proficient
- Amistad Dual Language SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Harold O Levy SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Academy For New AmericansD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- High School-construction Trades Engineering & ArchitectureA+ · 97% proficient
- Inwood Early College For Health And Information TechnologiesA+ · 89% proficient
- Voyages Prep-south QueensA · 73% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Inwood, Manhattan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Inwood, Manhattan 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 Inwood, Manhattan against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Inwood, Manhattan suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Inwood, Manhattan
Is Inwood, Manhattan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Inwood, Manhattan ranks 3,328th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and big-city access, 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 Inwood, Manhattan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $536,430. The overall cost of living runs about 23% above the national average. Set against a $66,869 median income, cost of living beats 17% of neighborhoods.
Is Inwood, Manhattan safe?
Yes, Inwood, Manhattan is safer than 77% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $330 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Inwood, Manhattan?
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 Inwood, Manhattan good for families?
Schools beat 88% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 77%, and childcare runs $1,344 a month.
Compare Inwood, Manhattan with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Inwood, Manhattan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Inwood, Manhattan 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.
Inwood, Manhattan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Inwood, Manhattan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Inwood, Manhattan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Inwood, Manhattan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Inwood, Manhattan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Inwood, Manhattan 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.