Best PlacesMorningside Heights, Manhattan, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Morningside Heights, 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.
Morningside Heights, Manhattan ranks 1,060th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Morningside Heights, 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.
Morningside Heights, Manhattan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Morningside Heights, Manhattan ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- School gradeB+, better than 96% of neighborhoods
Where Morningside Heights, Manhattan ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Morningside Heights, Manhattan
A household needs to earn about $276,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Morningside Heights, Manhattan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $100,946, 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 Morningside Heights, Manhattan's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Morningside Heights, Manhattan
Morningside Heights, 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 Morningside Heights, Manhattan.
Who works in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, and how
Work in Morningside Heights, Manhattan centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 7%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 68%
Life in Morningside Heights, Manhattan
Morningside Heights, Manhattan has more parkland per resident than 71% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 18 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Morningside Heights, Manhattan and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, month by month
Morningside Heights, Manhattan sees roughly 76 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 Morningside Heights, Manhattan
Laguardia sits about 5 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 Morningside Heights, Manhattan
Schools across Morningside Heights, Manhattan average a B+, better than 96% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Brooklyn School Of InquiryA+ · 93% proficient
- Active Learning Elementary School (the)A+ · 80% proficient
- Ps 180 Hugo NewmanA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Knowledge And Power Preparatory Academy ViC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Columbia Secondary SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Midwood High SchoolA+ · 97% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Morningside Heights, Manhattan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Morningside Heights, 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 Morningside Heights, Manhattan against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Morningside Heights, Manhattan suits
Common questions about living in Morningside Heights, Manhattan
Is Morningside Heights, Manhattan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Morningside Heights, Manhattan ranks 1,060th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on walkability, big-city access, and transit, and lowest on taxes and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Morningside Heights, Manhattan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,093,402. The overall cost of living runs about 79% above the national average. Set against a $100,946 median income, cost of living beats 18% of neighborhoods.
Is Morningside Heights, Manhattan safe?
Yes, Morningside Heights, Manhattan is safer than 80% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $314 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Morningside Heights, Manhattan?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 28. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 35% of neighborhoods.
Is Morningside Heights, Manhattan good for families?
Schools beat 96% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 80%, and childcare runs $1,344 a month.
Compare Morningside Heights, Manhattan with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Morningside Heights, Manhattan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Morningside Heights, 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.
Morningside Heights, Manhattan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Morningside Heights, Manhattan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Morningside Heights, Manhattan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Morningside Heights, Manhattan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Morningside Heights, Manhattan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Morningside Heights, 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.