Best PlacesPutnam County, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Putnam County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Putnam County ranks 196th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Putnam County
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 Putnam County
The parts of Putnam County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Putnam Valley, Garrison & Lake Peekskill
Incomes run higher and local pay stretches further.
Mahopac
More households have young kids and it is quieter.
Brewster
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Lake Carmel
Homes cost less, though schools score lower.
Cold Spring
More residents vote, though crime runs higher.
Carmel
Scores close to Cold Spring, except that advertised internet is slower here.
Patterson
Commutes are shorter, though health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Putnam County run from about the 30th to the 92nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Putnam County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Putnam County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 99% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$130,245 median, better than 98% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of counties
Where Putnam County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- Short commute39.2 minutes each way, better than only 1% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,476 a month, better than only 3% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Putnam County
A household needs to earn about $154,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Putnam County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $130,245, 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 Putnam County's effective rate of 2.20%, 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 Putnam County
Putnam County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Putnam County.
Who works in Putnam County, and how
Work in Putnam County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Putnam County
Putnam County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 38 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Putnam County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Putnam County growing, and who is moving in?
Putnam County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the New York, NY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Putnam County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Putnam County, month by month
Putnam County 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 Putnam County
The nearest airport, New York Stewart International, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Laguardia, about 44 miles away.
The best schools in and around Putnam County
Schools across Putnam County average an A, better than 99% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Putnam Valley Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Thomas Jefferson Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Brinckerhoff Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
Top middle schools
- Henry H Wells Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Mahopac Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Haldane Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
Top high schools
- Haldane High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Walter Panas High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Pawling High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Putnam County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Putnam County 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 Putnam County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Putnam County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Putnam County
Is Putnam County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Putnam County ranks 196th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, big-city access, and high incomes, and lowest on property taxes and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Putnam County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $494,079. The overall cost of living runs about 13% above the national average. Set against a $130,245 median income, cost of living beats 95% of counties.
Is Putnam County safe?
Yes, Putnam County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $224 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Putnam County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 21. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 24% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Putnam County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Putnam Valley, Garrison & Lake Peekskill, Mahopac, and Brewster. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Putnam County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Putnam County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Putnam County 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.
Putnam County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Putnam County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Putnam County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Putnam County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Putnam County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Putnam County 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.