Best PlacesWest Shokan, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Shokan, 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.
West Shokan ranks 6,890th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Shokan
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.
West Shokan's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Shokan ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of towns
- Household income$121,099 median, better than 93% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of towns
Where West Shokan ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,308 a month, better than only 10% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Shokan
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Shokan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $121,099, 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 West Shokan's effective rate of 0.94%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in West Shokan
West Shokan runs older than the country, 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 West Shokan.
Who works in West Shokan, and how
Work in West Shokan centers on professional & technical and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 52%
- Work from home 41%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in West Shokan
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Shokan.
What the weather is like in West Shokan, month by month
West Shokan sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of West Shokan
The nearest airport, New York Stewart International, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 82 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Shokan
Schools across West Shokan average a B, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Woodstock Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Marbletown Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Phoenicia Elementary SchoolD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Onteora Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Onteora High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Shokan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Shokan 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 West Shokan against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Shokan
Is West Shokan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Shokan ranks 6,890th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, tree cover, and an educated workforce, and lowest on an overheated housing market and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Shokan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $396,806. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $121,099 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is West Shokan safe?
Yes, West Shokan is safer than 69% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $244 per resident a year.
Compare West Shokan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Shokan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Shokan 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.
West Shokan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Shokan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Shokan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Shokan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Shokan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Shokan 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.