Best PlacesUlster Heights, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ulster Heights, 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.
Ulster Heights ranks 14,426th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Ulster Heights
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.
Ulster Heights' strengths and weaknesses
Where Ulster Heights ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of towns
- Household income$105,433 median, better than 88% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of towns
Where Ulster Heights ranks low
- Short commute39.5 minutes each way, better than only 6% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,302 a month, better than only 10% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ulster Heights
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ulster Heights home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $105,433, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Ulster Heights' effective rate of 1.49%, 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 Ulster Heights
Ulster Heights runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ulster Heights.
Who works in Ulster Heights, and how
Work in Ulster Heights centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Ulster Heights
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ulster Heights.
What the weather is like in Ulster Heights, month by month
Ulster Heights sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 17° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Ulster Heights
The nearest airport, New York Stewart International, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Laguardia, about 76 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ulster Heights
Schools across Ulster Heights average an A−, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Tri-valley Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Ellenville Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Ellenville Junior/senior High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Tri-valley Secondary SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ulster Heights school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ulster Heights 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 Ulster Heights against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ulster Heights
Is Ulster Heights a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ulster Heights ranks 14,426th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, good schools, and high incomes, and lowest on long commutes and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ulster Heights expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $260,564. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $105,433 median income, cost of living beats 80% of towns.
Is Ulster Heights safe?
Ulster Heights is safer than 51% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $300 per resident a year.
Compare Ulster Heights with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ulster Heights. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ulster Heights 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.
Ulster Heights detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ulster Heights: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ulster Heights: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ulster Heights: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ulster Heights: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ulster Heights 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.