Best PlacesNorth Bay Shore, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Bay Shore, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
North Bay Shore ranks 9,055th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Bay Shore
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.
North Bay Shore's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Bay Shore ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- Household income$138,382 median, better than 96% of towns
Where North Bay Shore ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,476 a month, better than only 4% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 5% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Bay Shore
A household needs to earn about $144,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Bay Shore home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $138,382; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 North Bay Shore's effective rate of 1.62%, 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 North Bay Shore
North Bay Shore runs younger 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 North Bay Shore.
Who works in North Bay Shore, and how
Work in North Bay Shore centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in North Bay Shore
The coast is about 14 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across North Bay Shore, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North Bay Shore, month by month
North Bay Shore sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 62° | 51° | 42° |
| July | 86° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 69° | 59° | 50° |
Flying in and out of North Bay Shore
The nearest airport, Long Island MacArthur, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John F Kennedy International, about 28 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Bay Shore
Schools across North Bay Shore average a B, better than 78% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Country SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Oak Park Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Loretta Park Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bay Shore Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Islip Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- South Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Islip High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Bay Shore Senior High SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
- Brentwood High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Bay Shore school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Bay Shore 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 North Bay Shore against the other 50,332 towns.
Who North Bay Shore suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 3% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in North Bay Shore
Is North Bay Shore a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Bay Shore ranks 9,055th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, fast internet, and transit, and lowest on car insurance costs and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is North Bay Shore expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $494,572. The overall cost of living runs about 24% above the national average. Set against a $138,382 median income, cost of living beats 80% of towns.
Is North Bay Shore safe?
Yes, North Bay Shore is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $292 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in North Bay Shore?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 26. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 32% of towns.
Is North Bay Shore good for families?
Schools beat 78% of towns, crime safety beats 55%, and childcare runs $1,476 a month.
Compare North Bay Shore with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Bay Shore. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Bay Shore 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.
North Bay Shore detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Bay Shore: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Bay Shore: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Bay Shore: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Bay Shore: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Bay Shore 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.