Best PlacesWading River, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wading River, 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.
Wading River ranks 1,827th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Wading River
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.
Wading River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wading River ranks high
- Household income$149,092 median, better than 97% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 97% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
Where Wading River ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,476 a month, better than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wading River
A household needs to earn about $169,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wading River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $149,092, 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 Wading River's effective rate of 1.81%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Wading River
Wading River runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wading River.
Who works in Wading River, and how
Work in Wading River centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Wading River
Wading River has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. The coast is about 3 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Wading River and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Wading River, month by month
Wading River 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 Wading River
The nearest airport, Long Island MacArthur, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John F Kennedy International, about 54 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wading River
Schools across Wading River average an A, better than 97% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wading River SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Riley Avenue SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Albert G Prodell Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Riverhead Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Shoreham-wading River High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Riverhead Senior High SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wading River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wading River 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 Wading River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wading River
Is Wading River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wading River ranks 1,827th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, good schools, and fast internet, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wading River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $569,252. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $149,092 median income, cost of living beats 92% of towns.
Is Wading River safe?
Yes, Wading River is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $155 per resident a year.
Compare Wading River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wading River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wading River 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.
Wading River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wading River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wading River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wading River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wading River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wading River 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.