Best PlacesPatterson, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Patterson, 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.
Patterson ranks 11,812th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Patterson
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.
Patterson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Patterson ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 93% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 89% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 89% of towns
Where Patterson ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,476 a month, better than only 4% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of towns
- Short commute37.2 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Patterson
A household needs to earn about $146,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Patterson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $106,866, 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 Patterson's effective rate of 2.33%, 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 Patterson
Patterson's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Patterson.
Who works in Patterson, and how
Work in Patterson centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Patterson
Patterson has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of towns. The coast is about 41 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Patterson and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Patterson, month by month
Patterson sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 21° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Patterson
The nearest airport, New York Stewart International, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Laguardia, about 51 miles away.
The best schools in and around Patterson
Schools across Patterson average an A−, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pawling Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- C V Starr Intermediate SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Matthew Paterson Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Henry H Wells Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Pawling Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- George Fischer Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Pawling High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Carmel High SchoolA+ · 96% proficient
- Brewster High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Patterson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Patterson 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 Patterson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Patterson
Is Patterson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Patterson ranks 11,812th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, good schools, and transit, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Patterson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $463,330. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $106,866 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Patterson safe?
Yes, Patterson is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $246 per resident a year.
Compare Patterson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Patterson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Patterson 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.
Patterson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Patterson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Patterson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Patterson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Patterson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Patterson 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.