Best PlacesOakland Gardens, Queens, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oakland Gardens, Queens, 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.
Oakland Gardens, Queens ranks 2,039th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Oakland Gardens, Queens
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.
Oakland Gardens, Queens' strengths and weaknesses
Where Oakland Gardens, Queens ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- School gradeB+, better than 90% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
Where Oakland Gardens, Queens ranks low
- Short commute43.8 minutes each way, better than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Oakland Gardens, Queens
A household needs to earn about $213,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oakland Gardens, Queens home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $104,102, 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 Oakland Gardens, Queens' effective rate of 0.80%, 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 Oakland Gardens, Queens
Oakland Gardens, Queens runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oakland Gardens, Queens.
Who works in Oakland Gardens, Queens, and how
Work in Oakland Gardens, Queens centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 27%
Life in Oakland Gardens, Queens
Oakland Gardens, Queens has more parkland per resident than 95% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 14 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Oakland Gardens, Queens and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oakland Gardens, Queens, month by month
Oakland Gardens, Queens sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 45° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 70° | 61° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Oakland Gardens, Queens
Laguardia sits about 6 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 Oakland Gardens, Queens
Schools across Oakland Gardens, Queens average a B+, better than 90% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Ps 188 KingsburyA+ · 93% proficient
- Brooklyn School Of InquiryA+ · 93% proficient
- Ps 203 Oakland GardensA+ · 93% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jhs 74 Nathaniel HawthorneA+ · 79% proficient
- Knowledge And Power Preparatory Academy ViC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Benjamin N Cardozo High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Professional Pathways High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oakland Gardens, Queens school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oakland Gardens, Queens 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 Oakland Gardens, Queens against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Oakland Gardens, Queens suits
Common questions about living in Oakland Gardens, Queens
Is Oakland Gardens, Queens a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oakland Gardens, Queens ranks 2,039th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on big-city access, good schools, and low crime, and lowest on long commutes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oakland Gardens, Queens expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $815,943. The overall cost of living runs about 34% above the national average. Set against a $104,102 median income, cost of living beats 46% of neighborhoods.
Is Oakland Gardens, Queens safe?
Yes, Oakland Gardens, Queens is safer than 86% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $277 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oakland Gardens, Queens?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 29. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 23% of neighborhoods.
Is Oakland Gardens, Queens good for families?
Schools beat 90% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 86%, and childcare runs $1,344 a month.
Compare Oakland Gardens, Queens with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oakland Gardens, Queens. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oakland Gardens, Queens 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.
Oakland Gardens, Queens detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oakland Gardens, Queens: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oakland Gardens, Queens: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oakland Gardens, Queens: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oakland Gardens, Queens: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oakland Gardens, Queens 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.