Best PlacesSoho, Manhattan, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Soho, Manhattan, 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.
Soho, Manhattan ranks 499th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Soho, Manhattan
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.
Soho, Manhattan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Soho, Manhattan ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
Where Soho, Manhattan ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Soho, Manhattan
A household needs to earn about $474,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Soho, Manhattan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $175,124, 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 Soho, Manhattan's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 Soho, Manhattan
Soho, Manhattan's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Soho, Manhattan.
Who works in Soho, Manhattan, and how
Work in Soho, Manhattan centers on professional & technical and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 6%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 66%
Life in Soho, Manhattan
Soho, Manhattan has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of neighborhoods and more late-night spots per resident than 88% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 12 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Soho, Manhattan and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Soho, Manhattan, month by month
Soho, Manhattan sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 35° | 28° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 69° | 60° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Soho, Manhattan
Laguardia sits about 8 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 16.3 million passengers in 2025, with 118 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Soho, Manhattan
Schools across Soho, Manhattan average an A+, better than 99% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Brooklyn School Of InquiryA+ · 93% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mark Twain Is 239 For The Gifted And TalentedA+ · 83% proficient
- Knowledge And Power Preparatory Academy ViC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Nyc IschoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Chelsea Career And Technical Education High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- High School 560 City-as-schoolA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Soho, Manhattan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Soho, Manhattan 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 Soho, Manhattan against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Soho, Manhattan
Is Soho, Manhattan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Soho, Manhattan ranks 499th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and big-city access, and lowest on taxes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Soho, Manhattan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,816,764. The overall cost of living runs about 163% above the national average. Set against a $175,124 median income, cost of living beats 45% of neighborhoods.
Is Soho, Manhattan safe?
Soho, Manhattan is safer than 25% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $707 per resident a year.
Compare Soho, Manhattan with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Soho, Manhattan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Soho, Manhattan 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.
Soho, Manhattan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Soho, Manhattan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Soho, Manhattan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Soho, Manhattan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Soho, Manhattan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Soho, Manhattan 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.