Best PlacesLong Island, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Long Island, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Long Island ranks 39,282nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Long Island
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.
Long Island's strengths and weaknesses
Where Long Island ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Cheap childcare$479 a month, better than 95% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 125 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of towns
- QuietBetter than 77% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 70% of towns
Where Long Island ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Long Island
A household needs to earn about $27,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Long Island home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,664, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Long Island's effective rate of 1.40%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Long Island
Long Island 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 Long Island.
Who works in Long Island, and how
Work in Long Island centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Long Island
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Long Island.
What the weather is like in Long Island, month by month
Long Island sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 66° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 67° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Long Island
The nearest airport, Kearney Regional, is about 61 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 213 miles away.
The best schools in and around Long Island
Schools across Long Island average a C, better than 42% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Almena ElemA+ · 75% proficient
- Phillipsburg ElemB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Phillipsburg MiddleC− · 30% proficient
- Long Island Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Northern Valley HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Phillipsburg HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Long Island school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Long Island 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 Long Island against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Long Island
Is Long Island a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Long Island ranks 39,282nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, affordable childcare, and the weather, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Long Island expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $96,574. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $62,664 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Long Island safe?
Long Island is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $500 per resident a year.
Compare Long Island with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Long Island. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Long Island 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.
Long Island detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Long Island: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Long Island: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Long Island: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Long Island: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Long Island 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.