Best PlacesPoughkeepsie, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Poughkeepsie metro, 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.
Photo by Juliancolton, via commons
Poughkeepsie ranks 104th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on big-city access and tree cover. The weaker spots are long commutes, an overheated housing market, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in the Poughkeepsie metro
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 Poughkeepsie
The towns and districts of the Poughkeepsie metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Fishkill, Pawling & Stormville
Local pay stretches further, prices have run up less, and more residents vote.
Downtown Poughkeepsie
It is quieter, though fewer households have young kids.
Pine Bush
Incomes run higher, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Warwick, Port Jervis & Goshen
Commutes are longer and biking is worse.
Wallkill
Streets are more walkable and transit reaches more jobs.
Middletown & Scotchtown
Tree cover is thinner and schools score lower.
Newburgh, New Windsor & Beacon
Crime runs higher.
Kiryas Joel, Monroe & Central Valley
Health care is harder to reach and homes cost more.
Poughkeepsie shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Poughkeepsie's strengths and weaknesses
Poughkeepsie lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Big-city access is the standout, in the top 3% of metro areas. Tree cover and good schools follow.
The one real hole is long commutes, near the bottom of the country. An overheated housing market and property taxes also cost it ground. That one depends almost entirely on which part you pick, which is what the map below settles.
Where Poughkeepsie ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of metro areas
- Tree shadeBetter than 96% of metro areas
- School gradeB+, better than 95% of metro areas
- Household income$106,140 median, better than 91% of metro areas
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of metro areas
Where Poughkeepsie ranks low
- Short commute32.8 minutes each way, better than only 1% of metro areas
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of metro areas
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of metro areas
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of metro areas
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Poughkeepsie
A household needs to earn about $126,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Poughkeepsie home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $106,140, 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 Poughkeepsie's effective rate of 1.92%, 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 Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie'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 Poughkeepsie.
Who works in Poughkeepsie, and how
Work in Poughkeepsie 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 75%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of metro areas and more parkland per resident than 76% of metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Poughkeepsie and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Poughkeepsie growing, and who is moving in?
Poughkeepsie has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from New York, NY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Poughkeepsie go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Poughkeepsie, month by month
Poughkeepsie sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Poughkeepsie
The nearest airport, New York Stewart International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Laguardia, about 63 miles away.
The best schools in and around Poughkeepsie
Schools across Poughkeepsie average a B+, better than 95% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Willow Avenue Elementary SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Cornwall Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Park Avenue Elementary SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bulkeley Middle SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Peekskill Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Union Vale Middle SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top high schools
- Spackenkill High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Haldane High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Rhinebeck Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Poughkeepsie school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Poughkeepsie 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 Poughkeepsie against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Poughkeepsie suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Poughkeepsie
Is Poughkeepsie a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Poughkeepsie ranks 104th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on big-city access, tree cover, and good schools, and lowest on long commutes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Poughkeepsie expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $418,449. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $106,140 median income, cost of living beats 62% of metro areas.
Is Poughkeepsie safe?
Yes, Poughkeepsie is safer than 78% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $282 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Poughkeepsie?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 20. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 28% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Poughkeepsie?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fishkill, Pawling & Stormville, Downtown Poughkeepsie, and Pine Bush. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Poughkeepsie good for families?
Schools beat 95% of metro areas, crime safety beats 78%, and childcare runs $1,308 a month.
Is Poughkeepsie good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 62% of metro areas, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 67% of metro areas. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare Poughkeepsie with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Poughkeepsie. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Poughkeepsie 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.
Poughkeepsie detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Poughkeepsie: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Poughkeepsie: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Poughkeepsie: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Poughkeepsie: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Poughkeepsie 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.