Best PlacesWestchester County, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Westchester County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Westchester County ranks 72nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $143,276, wages outrun the cost of living, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are noise, childcare costs, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Westchester County
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.
The best areas in Westchester County
The parts of Westchester County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Mamaroneck & Larchmont
More households have young kids, more adults hold degrees, and incomes run higher.
Mount Kisco, Katonah & Armonk
Tree cover is thicker and local pay stretches further.
Jefferson Valley-Yorktown, Yorktown Heights & Pleasantville
More residents vote, though streets are more car-dependent.
Tarrytown, Dobbs Ferry & Hastings-on-Hudson
Biking is better and health care is easier to reach.
White Plains, Port Chester & Harrison
Commutes are shorter, though homes cost more.
Scarsdale, Hartsdale & Eastchester
Ossining, Peekskill & Cortlandt Manor
It is quieter, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
New Rochelle
Scores close to Ossining, Peekskill & Cortlandt Manor, except that crime runs higher here.
Yonkers & Mount Vernon
Schools score lower and health outcomes score lower.
Westchester County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 4% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Westchester County's strengths and weaknesses
Westchester County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Big-city access is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. High incomes and walkability follow.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. Childcare costs and property taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Westchester County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$143,276 median, better than 99% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of counties
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of counties
Where Westchester County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,476 a month, better than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of counties
- Short commute34.6 minutes each way, better than only 4% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Westchester County
A household needs to earn about $220,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Westchester County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $143,276, 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 Westchester County's effective rate of 1.82%, 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 Westchester County
Westchester County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Westchester County.
Who works in Westchester County, and how
Work in Westchester County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 57%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 23%
Life in Westchester County
Westchester County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of counties and more parkland per resident than 73% of counties. The coast is about 13 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Westchester County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Westchester County growing, and who is moving in?
Westchester County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the New York, NY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Westchester County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Westchester County, month by month
Westchester County sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Westchester County
The nearest airport, Westchester County, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Laguardia, about 18 miles away.
The best schools in and around Westchester County
Schools across Westchester County average an A−, better than 97% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Heathcote SchoolA+ · 96% proficient
- Fox Meadow SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Quaker Ridge SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Top middle schools
- Seven Bridges Middle SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Irvington Middle SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Scarsdale Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
Top high schools
- Horace Greeley High SchoolA+ · 100% proficient
- Scarsdale Senior High SchoolA+ · 100% proficient
- Rye High SchoolA+ · 100% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Westchester County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Westchester County 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 Westchester County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Westchester County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Westchester County
Is Westchester County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Westchester County ranks 72nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, high incomes, and walkability, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Westchester County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $737,059. The overall cost of living runs about 23% above the national average. Set against a $143,276 median income, cost of living beats 97% of counties.
Is Westchester County safe?
Westchester County is safer than 53% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $334 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Westchester County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 24. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 15% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Westchester County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Mamaroneck & Larchmont, Mount Kisco, Katonah & Armonk, and Jefferson Valley-Yorktown, Yorktown Heights & Pleasantville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Westchester County good for families?
Schools beat 97% of counties, crime safety beats 53%, and childcare runs $1,476 a month.
Is Westchester County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 97% of counties. About 20% of workers already work from home.
Compare Westchester County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Westchester County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Westchester County 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.
Westchester County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Westchester County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Westchester County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Westchester County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Westchester County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Westchester County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.