Best PlacesTappan, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Tappan, 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.
Tappan ranks 823rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Tappan
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.
Tappan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tappan ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$164,033 median, better than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
Where Tappan ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,476 a month, better than only 4% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Tappan
A household needs to earn about $191,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tappan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $164,033, 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 Tappan's effective rate of 2.15%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Tappan
Tappan runs older than the country, 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 Tappan.
Who works in Tappan, and how
Work in Tappan centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Tappan
Tappan has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns. The coast is about 27 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Tappan and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Tappan, month by month
Tappan sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Tappan
The nearest airport, Westchester County, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Laguardia, about 18 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tappan
Schools across Tappan average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln Avenue SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Cottage Lane Elementary SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pearl River Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- South Orangetown Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Tappan Zee High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Pearl River High SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tappan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tappan 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 Tappan against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Tappan
Is Tappan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tappan ranks 823rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, population health, and fast internet, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tappan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $618,357. The overall cost of living runs about 27% above the national average. Set against a $164,033 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Tappan safe?
Yes, Tappan is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $162 per resident a year.
Compare Tappan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tappan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tappan 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.
Tappan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tappan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tappan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tappan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tappan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tappan 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.