Best PlacesWhite Plains, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around White Plains, 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.
White Plains ranks 388th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in White Plains
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.
White Plains' strengths and weaknesses
Where White Plains ranks high
- TransitBetter than 97% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of cities
- School gradeA−, better than 88% of cities
Where White Plains ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 9% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,476 a month, better than only 18% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in White Plains
A household needs to earn about $186,000 a year to comfortably buy the median White Plains home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $137,341, 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 White Plains' effective rate of 1.60%, 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 White Plains
White Plains runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for White Plains.
Who works in White Plains, and how
Work in White Plains centers on health care & social and professional & technical. 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 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 20%
Life in White Plains
White Plains has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 9 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of White Plains and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in White Plains, month by month
White Plains 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 White Plains
The nearest airport, Westchester County, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Laguardia, about 18 miles away.
The best schools in and around White Plains
Schools across White Plains average an A−, better than 88% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Quaker Ridge SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Greenacres SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Harrison Avenue Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Top middle schools
- Scarsdale Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Ardsley Middle SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Westlake Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
Top high schools
- Scarsdale Senior High SchoolA+ · 100% proficient
- Ardsley High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Valhalla High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every White Plains school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
White Plains 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 White Plains against the other 2,097 cities.
Who White Plains suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 22% already work from home.
Common questions about living in White Plains
Is White Plains a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, White Plains ranks 388th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on transit, big-city access, and walkability, and lowest on noise 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 White Plains expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $641,374. The overall cost of living runs about 22% above the national average. Set against a $137,341 median income, cost of living beats 75% of cities.
Is White Plains safe?
White Plains is safer than 40% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $353 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in White Plains?
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 20% of cities.
Is White Plains good for families?
Schools beat 88% of cities, crime safety beats 40%, and childcare runs $1,476 a month.
Compare White Plains with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to White Plains. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in White Plains 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.
White Plains detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for White Plains: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in White Plains: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of White Plains: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in White Plains: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
White Plains 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.