Best PlacesKips Bay, Manhattan, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kips Bay, 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.
Kips Bay, Manhattan ranks 721st 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 Kips Bay, 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.
Kips Bay, Manhattan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kips Bay, Manhattan ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
Where Kips Bay, Manhattan ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Kips Bay, Manhattan
A household needs to earn about $291,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kips Bay, Manhattan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $137,609, 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 Kips Bay, Manhattan's effective rate of 0.91%, 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 Kips Bay, Manhattan
Kips Bay, Manhattan 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 Kips Bay, Manhattan.
Who works in Kips Bay, Manhattan, and how
Work in Kips Bay, Manhattan centers on professional & technical and finance & insurance. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 6%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 67%
Life in Kips Bay, Manhattan
Kips Bay, Manhattan has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of neighborhoods and more late-night spots per resident than 70% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 16 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kips Bay, Manhattan and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kips Bay, Manhattan, month by month
Kips Bay, Manhattan 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 Kips Bay, Manhattan
Laguardia sits about 6 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 Kips Bay, Manhattan
Schools across Kips Bay, Manhattan average an A+, better than 99% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Brooklyn School Of InquiryA+ · 93% proficient
- Ps 116 Mary Lindley MurrayA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mark Twain Is 239 For The Gifted And TalentedA+ · 83% proficient
- Knowledge And Power Preparatory Academy ViC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Professional Pathways High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kips Bay, Manhattan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kips Bay, 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 Kips Bay, Manhattan against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Kips Bay, Manhattan suits
Common questions about living in Kips Bay, Manhattan
Is Kips Bay, Manhattan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kips Bay, Manhattan ranks 721st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on big-city access, transit, and good schools, 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 Kips Bay, Manhattan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,097,804. The overall cost of living runs about 113% above the national average. Set against a $137,609 median income, cost of living beats 35% of neighborhoods.
Is Kips Bay, Manhattan safe?
Yes, Kips Bay, Manhattan is safer than 65% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $407 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kips Bay, Manhattan?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 28. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 33% of neighborhoods.
Is Kips Bay, Manhattan good for families?
Schools beat 99% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 65%, and childcare runs $1,344 a month.
Compare Kips Bay, Manhattan with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kips Bay, Manhattan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kips Bay, 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.
Kips Bay, Manhattan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kips Bay, Manhattan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kips Bay, Manhattan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kips Bay, Manhattan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kips Bay, Manhattan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kips Bay, 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.