Best PlacesNorth Branch, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Branch, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
North Branch ranks 11,337th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Branch
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 Branch's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Branch ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 88% of towns
Where North Branch ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Short commute38.9 minutes each way, better than only 6% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Branch
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Branch home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $89,601, 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 North Branch's effective rate of 1.33%, 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 Branch
North Branch 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 North Branch.
Who works in North Branch, and how
Work in North Branch centers on retail trade and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in North Branch
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across North Branch.
What the weather is like in North Branch, month by month
North Branch sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 17° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of North Branch
The nearest airport, New York Stewart International, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Branch
Schools across North Branch average an A−, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sullivan West Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Sullivan West High School At Lake HuntingtonA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Branch school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Branch 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 Branch against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Branch
Is North Branch a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Branch ranks 11,337th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, an educated workforce, and health care access, and lowest on an overheated housing market and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is North Branch expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $374,472. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $89,601 median income, cost of living beats 86% of towns.
Is North Branch safe?
Yes, North Branch is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $214 per resident a year.
Compare North Branch with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Branch. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Branch 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 Branch detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Branch: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Branch: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Branch: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Branch: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Branch 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.