Best PlacesScarsdale, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Scarsdale, 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.
Scarsdale ranks 99th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Scarsdale
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.
Scarsdale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Scarsdale ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of cities
Where Scarsdale ranks low
- Short commute42.2 minutes each way, better than only 1% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 11% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Scarsdale
A household needs to earn about $463,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Scarsdale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $243,750, 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 Scarsdale's effective rate of 1.96%, 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 Scarsdale
Scarsdale's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Scarsdale.
Who works in Scarsdale, and how
Work in Scarsdale centers on finance & insurance and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 34%
- Work from home 34%
- Transit, walk, or bike 31%
Life in Scarsdale
Scarsdale has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of cities and more parkland per resident than 98% of cities. The coast is about 11 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Scarsdale and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Scarsdale, month by month
Scarsdale sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Scarsdale
The nearest airport, Westchester County, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Laguardia, about 15 miles away.
The best schools in and around Scarsdale
Schools across Scarsdale average an A+, better than 99% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Heathcote SchoolA+ · 96% proficient
- Fox Meadow SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Quaker Ridge SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Top middle schools
- Scarsdale Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Ardsley Middle SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Albert Leonard Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Scarsdale Senior High SchoolA+ · 100% proficient
- Eastchester Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Ardsley High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Scarsdale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Scarsdale 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 Scarsdale against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Scarsdale suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 34% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Scarsdale
Is Scarsdale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Scarsdale ranks 99th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on good schools, tree cover, and an educated workforce, and lowest on long commutes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Scarsdale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,527,208. The overall cost of living runs about 42% above the national average. Set against a $243,750 median income, cost of living beats 99% of cities.
Is Scarsdale safe?
Scarsdale is safer than 43% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $329 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Scarsdale?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 24. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 19% of cities.
Is Scarsdale good for families?
Schools beat 100% of cities, crime safety beats 43%, and childcare runs $1,476 a month.
Compare Scarsdale with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Scarsdale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Scarsdale 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.
Scarsdale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Scarsdale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Scarsdale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Scarsdale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Scarsdale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Scarsdale 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.