Best PlacesNassau County, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Nassau County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Nassau County ranks 53rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $155,349, wages outrun the cost of living, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are noise, car insurance costs, and long commutes.
The best neighborhoods in Nassau County
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.
The best areas in Nassau County
The parts of Nassau County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Bellmore, Massapequa & East Massapequa
Local pay stretches further, prices have run up less, and more residents vote.
Great Neck, Port Washington & North New Hyde Park
More adults hold degrees and tree cover is thicker.
Hicksville, Plainview & Syosset
Schools score higher, though streets are more car-dependent.
Levittown, North Massapequa & North Bellmore
Crime runs lower.
Glen Cove, Westbury & New Cassel
Scores close to Levittown, North Massapequa & North Bellmore, except that homes cost more here.
Elmont, Franklin Square & Floral Park
Transit reaches more jobs.
Valley Stream, Long Beach & Lynbrook
More homes sit empty.
Freeport, Oceanside & Rockville Centre
Scores close to Valley Stream, Long Beach & Lynbrook, except that it is quieter here.
Hempstead, Uniondale & East Meadow
Health care is harder to reach and incomes run lower.
Nassau County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Nassau County's strengths and weaknesses
Nassau County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. High incomes is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Big-city access and fast internet follow.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. Car insurance costs and long commutes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Nassau County ranks high
- Household income$155,349 median, better than 99% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of counties
- School gradeA, better than 99% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of counties
Where Nassau County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of counties
- Short commute36.0 minutes each way, better than only 2% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,476 a month, better than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Nassau County
A household needs to earn about $222,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nassau County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $155,349, 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 Nassau County's effective rate of 1.80%, 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 Nassau County
Nassau County runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Nassau County.
Who works in Nassau County, and how
Work in Nassau County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Nassau County
The coast is about 11 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Nassau County, which the map shows.
Is Nassau County growing, and who is moving in?
Nassau County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the New York, NY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Nassau County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Nassau County, month by month
Nassau County sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 70° |
| October | 70° | 60° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Nassau County
John F Kennedy International sits about 11 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 31.0 million passengers in 2025, with 249 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Nassau County
Schools across Nassau County average an A, better than 99% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Jeffrey Ratner-robert Seaman Elementary SchoolA+ · 96% proficient
- Mcvey Elementary SchoolA+ · 96% proficient
- Lakeville Elementary SchoolA+ · 96% proficient
Top middle schools
- Garden City Middle SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Manhasset Middle SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
- Willets Road SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Top high schools
- Sanford H Calhoun High SchoolA+ · 100% proficient
- Jericho Senior High SchoolA+ · 100% proficient
- John F Kennedy High SchoolA+ · 100% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nassau County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nassau County 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 Nassau County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Nassau County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Nassau County
Is Nassau County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nassau County ranks 53rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on high incomes, big-city access, and fast internet, and lowest on noise 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 Nassau County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $747,126. The overall cost of living runs about 35% above the national average. Set against a $155,349 median income, cost of living beats 95% of counties.
Is Nassau County safe?
Yes, Nassau County is safer than 60% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $318 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Nassau County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 27. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Nassau County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Bellmore, Massapequa & East Massapequa, Great Neck, Port Washington & North New Hyde Park, and Hicksville, Plainview & Syosset. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Nassau County good for families?
Schools beat 99% of counties, crime safety beats 60%, and childcare runs $1,476 a month.
Is Nassau County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 99% of counties. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Nassau County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nassau County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nassau County 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.
Nassau County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nassau County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nassau County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nassau County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nassau County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nassau County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.