Best PlacesShirley, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shirley, 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.
Shirley ranks 931st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Shirley
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.
Shirley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shirley ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of cities
- School gradeA, better than 91% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 78% of cities
Where Shirley ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of cities
- Short commute33.1 minutes each way, better than only 11% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Shirley
A household needs to earn about $126,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shirley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $121,080; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Shirley's effective rate of 1.95%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Shirley
Shirley'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 Shirley.
Who works in Shirley, and how
Work in Shirley centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Shirley
Shirley has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of cities and more parkland per resident than 79% of cities. The coast is about 7 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Shirley and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Shirley, month by month
Shirley sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Shirley
The nearest airport, Long Island MacArthur, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John F Kennedy International, about 49 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shirley
Schools across Shirley average an A, better than 91% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- William Floyd Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- John S Hobart Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Longwood Junior High SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- William Paca Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- William Floyd Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Longwood High SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
- Bellport Senior High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Eastport-south Manor Junior Senior High SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shirley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shirley 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 Shirley against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Shirley suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Shirley
Is Shirley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shirley ranks 931st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on fast internet, tree cover, and heat safety, and lowest on cell coverage and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shirley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $417,104. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $121,080 median income, cost of living beats 58% of cities.
Is Shirley safe?
Yes, Shirley is safer than 68% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $266 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Shirley?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 25. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of cities.
Is Shirley good for families?
Schools beat 91% of cities, crime safety beats 68%, and childcare runs $1,476 a month.
Compare Shirley with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shirley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shirley 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.
Shirley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shirley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shirley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shirley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shirley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shirley 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.