Best PlacesSouth Ozone Park, Queens, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Ozone Park, Queens, 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.
South Ozone Park, Queens ranks 3,613th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South Ozone Park, Queens
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.
South Ozone Park, Queens' strengths and weaknesses
Where South Ozone Park, Queens ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- School gradeB, better than 87% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 76% of neighborhoods
Where South Ozone Park, Queens ranks low
- Short commute46.1 minutes each way, better than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in South Ozone Park, Queens
A household needs to earn about $185,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Ozone Park, Queens home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $103,249, 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 South Ozone Park, Queens' effective rate of 0.81%, 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 South Ozone Park, Queens
South Ozone Park, Queens'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 South Ozone Park, Queens.
Who works in South Ozone Park, Queens, and how
Work in South Ozone Park, Queens centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 53%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 38%
Life in South Ozone Park, Queens
The coast is about 12 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across South Ozone Park, Queens, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Ozone Park, Queens, month by month
South Ozone Park, Queens sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 70° |
| October | 70° | 60° | 51° |
Flying in and out of South Ozone Park, Queens
John F Kennedy International sits about 3 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 31.0 million passengers in 2025, with 249 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around South Ozone Park, Queens
Schools across South Ozone Park, Queens average a B, better than 87% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Brooklyn School Of InquiryA+ · 93% proficient
- Ps 121A+ · 85% proficient
- Ps 108 Captain Vincent G FowlerA+ · 78% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jhs 226 Virgil I GrissonB+ · 50% proficient
- Knowledge And Power Preparatory Academy ViC− · 28% proficient
- Hawtree Creek Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- John Adams High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Epic High School-southA · 74% proficient
- Professional Pathways High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Ozone Park, Queens school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Ozone Park, Queens 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 South Ozone Park, Queens against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who South Ozone Park, Queens suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in South Ozone Park, Queens
Is South Ozone Park, Queens a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Ozone Park, Queens ranks 3,613th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on big-city access, good schools, and low crime, and lowest on long commutes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Ozone Park, Queens expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $706,552. The overall cost of living runs about 40% above the national average. Set against a $103,249 median income, cost of living beats 36% of neighborhoods.
Is South Ozone Park, Queens safe?
Yes, South Ozone Park, Queens is safer than 84% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $282 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in South Ozone Park, Queens?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 27. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 21% of neighborhoods.
Is South Ozone Park, Queens good for families?
Schools beat 87% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 84%, and childcare runs $1,344 a month.
Compare South Ozone Park, Queens with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Ozone Park, Queens. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Ozone Park, Queens 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.
South Ozone Park, Queens detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Ozone Park, Queens: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Ozone Park, Queens: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Ozone Park, Queens: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Ozone Park, Queens: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Ozone Park, Queens 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.