The Best Neighborhoods in Bronx, by the Data
22 Bronx neighborhoods ranked on DwellCheck’s Livability & Safety score: two thirds livability — building maintenance, subway access, trees and noise, park access — and one third NYPD crime rate per resident.
“Best” is a claim, so here is the whole claim: Livability & Safety = (2/3 × livability composite) + (1/3 × safety score). Both components are columns in the table, every input is a city dataset, and rent and schools are still not in it.
Scored from NYC Open Data and NYPD complaint data • 22 neighborhoods ranked • median Livability & Safety score 4.9/10
Quick Answer
The highest Livability & Safety score in Bronx is Pelham Bay at 6.6/10 — a livability composite of 5.4/10 and a safety score of 9/10, which comes from ranking #3 of 22 Bronx neighborhoods on NYPD complaints per 1,000 residents (43.7 per 1,000).
Check the arithmetic yourself — two thirds plus one third is the same as (2 × composite + safety) ÷ 3: (2 × 5.4 + 9) ÷ 3 = 6.6. For crime on its own, including violent crime and shootings, see the safest neighborhoods in Bronx.
What this score does and does not cover
The livability composite published on each neighborhood’s own page has no crime term in it. Ranking a “best neighborhoods” page on that alone produced an order that ignored crime entirely, so this page blends it with a safety score built from the same NYPD data the neighborhood’s safety page publishes. Two consequences worth knowing: the order here differs from the composite order on the pillar pages, which is why both numbers are columns below; and the safety component is a rank within Bronx, so it is not comparable with another borough’s — use the absolute complaints-per-1,000 column for that.
Bronx neighborhoods ranked by Livability & Safety
Higher is better, 0-10. The score column is two thirds of the composite column plus one third of the safety column, rounded to one decimal — every row is reproducible from the two components beside it. The safety percentile and the absolute complaint rate are shown so you can see what the safety score is made of.
| # | Neighborhood | Livability & Safetythe ranking score | Livability compositeweight 2/3 | Safety scoreweight 1/3 | Safety rankin Bronx | Complaints / 1,000absolute rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6.6 | 5.4 | 9 | 3 / 22 | 43.7 | |
| 2 | 6.5 | 4.7 | 10 | 1 / 22 | 31.1 | |
| 3 | 6.3 | 6.4 | 6.2 | 9 / 22 | 68 | |
| 4 | 6.3 | 5.6 | 7.6 | 6 / 22 | 63.5 | |
| 5 | 6 | 5.4 | 7.1 | 7 / 22 | 66.4 | |
| 6 | 6 | 5 | 8.1 | 5 / 22 | 54.3 | |
| 7 | 5.8 | 5.4 | 6.7 | 8 / 22 | 67.8 | |
| 8 | 5.2 | 5 | 5.7 | 10 / 22 | 68.2 | |
| 9 | 5.2 | 3.1 | 9.5 | 2 / 22 | 36.5 | |
| 10 | 5.1 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 12 / 22 | 73.7 | |
| 11 | 5 | 3.2 | 8.6 | 4 / 22 | 44.6 | |
| 12 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 5.2 | 11 / 22 | 69.6 | |
| 13 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 13 / 22 | 74.1 | |
| 14 | 4 | 4.6 | 2.9 | 16 / 22 | 95.5 | |
| 15 | 3.7 | 5 | 1 | 20 / 22 | 127.7 | |
| 16 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 1.9 | 18 / 22 | 108.1 | |
| 17 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 14 / 22 | 74.2 | |
| 18 | 3.4 | 4.8 | 0.5 | 21 / 22 | 152 | |
| 19 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 1.4 | 19 / 22 | 113.9 | |
| 20 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 15 / 22 | 78 | |
| 21 | 2.8 | 3 | 2.4 | 17 / 22 | 98.5 | |
| 22 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 0 | 22 / 22 | 233.5 |
Livability composites from DwellCheck’s published neighborhood guides (public/data/guides/*.json), built from NYC Open Data: HPD housing violations, MTA station and route data, NYC Parks Forestry Tree Points and parks properties, and 311 noise complaints. Safety percentile and complaint rate from the neighborhood’s published safety data (public/data/safety/*.json): NYPD complaints over the 12 months ending June 30, 2026, divided by the 2020 Census population of its NTAs, ranked within Bronx. The blend is computed on this page only; the composites on the neighborhood pages are unchanged.
The four dimensions behind each livability composite
Same order as the ranking above. These four feed the composite column, nothing else: a dash means the neighborhood does not measure that dimension, in which case its weight is dropped and the rest are renormalized so the composite stays on 0-10.
| # | Neighborhood | Practical0.30 | Commute0.20 | ART0.20 | Outdoor0.15 | Composite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pelham Bay | 8 | 5 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 5.4 |
| 2 | Riverdale | 8 | 1 | 3.1 | 4.9 | 4.7 |
| 3 | Morris Park | 9 | 3 | 5.6 | 6.7 | 6.4 |
| 4 | Castle Hill | 7 | 5 | 3.6 | 6.4 | 5.6 |
| 5 | Norwood | 3 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 10 | 5.4 |
| 6 | Throgs Neck | 9 | 1 | 2.9 | 5.1 | 5 |
| 7 | Soundview | 6 | 5 | 4.1 | 6.7 | 5.4 |
| 8 | Kingsbridge | 4 | 6.5 | 3.2 | 7.2 | 5 |
| 9 | Parkchester | 2 | 1 | 4.8 | 6.1 | 3.1 |
| 10 | Eastchester | 8 | 5 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 5.3 |
| 11 | Co-op City | 4 | 1 | 3.7 | 4 | 3.2 |
| 12 | Pelham Parkway | 5 | 3.5 | 4 | 5.4 | 4.5 |
| 13 | University Heights | 2 | 5 | 4.3 | 7 | 4.1 |
| 14 | Concourse | 2 | 6.5 | 4.5 | 7.5 | 4.6 |
| 15 | Mott Haven | 4 | 7.5 | 2.7 | 6.9 | 5 |
| 16 | Mount Eden | 1 | 7.5 | 4.6 | 8.1 | 4.6 |
| 17 | Bedford Park | 2 | 6 | 2.8 | 5.5 | 3.7 |
| 18 | Melrose | 3 | 5.5 | 5.1 | 7.2 | 4.8 |
| 19 | Fordham | 1 | 6 | 4.7 | 7.2 | 4.1 |
| 20 | Highbridge | 2 | 1 | 3.9 | 7.1 | 3.1 |
| 21 | Belmont | 2 | 1 | 3.8 | 6.8 | 3 |
| 22 | Hunts Point | 4 | 3 | 1.4 | 5.8 | 3.5 |
Composite = (0.30 × practical + 0.20 × commute + 0.20 × art + 0.15 × outdoor) ÷ 0.85, or ÷ the sum of the weights actually used. These are the published per-dimension medians from each neighborhood’s guide file, the same values its own page prints.
How we ranked this
- Formula
Livability & Safety = (2/3 × livability composite) + (1/3 × safety score), rounded to one decimal, both components on a 0-10 scale. Ties are broken by the livability composite, then the neighborhood name.- Livability composite (weight 2/3) — the score published on the neighborhood’s own page, unchanged:
(0.30 × practical + 0.20 × commute + 0.20 × art + 0.15 × outdoor) ÷ 0.85, or ÷ the sum of the weights actually used when a dimension is unmeasured.Practical (0.30): HPD housing violations per residential lot over the last 12 months (higher score = fewer violations).Commute (0.20): subway stations inside the neighborhood and the lines they serve.ART (0.20): tree density (city percentile) and 311 noise complaints per resident.Outdoor (0.15): tree count and distance to NYC Parks properties. - Safety score (weight 1/3) —
safety score = borough safety percentile ÷ 10. The borough safety percentile is the neighborhood’s published standing on NYPD complaints per 1,000 residents among the 22 Bronx neighborhoods with a safety page, where 100 is the lowest rate in the borough. It is read straight from the neighborhood’s own safety data, so this page and its safety ranking cannot disagree about how safe it is.
- Livability composite (weight 2/3) — the score published on the neighborhood’s own page, unchanged:
- Data source
- NYC Open Data: HPD housing violations, MTA subway station and route data, NYC Parks Forestry Tree Points and parks properties, and 311 Service Requests (noise) behind the composite; NYPD Complaint Data behind the safety score. Both are read from DwellCheck’s published guide and safety files, the same ones behind each neighborhood page — this page computes the blend and nothing else.
- Vintage
- Each neighborhood’s guide file records its own generation date, shown on that neighborhood’s page. The safety component covers the 12 months ending June 30, 2026 (from June 30, 2025). The ranking changes only when those files are regenerated.
- Limitations
- Not comparable across boroughs. The safety component is a rank within Bronx, so the safest neighborhood in every borough scores 10 on safety whatever its absolute crime rate. The complaints-per-1,000 column is the absolute number.
- No rent or price input. The repo holds no neighborhood rent-level data, so affordability is absent — a cheap neighborhood and an expensive one can score identically.
- No schools, no jobs, no demographics. Commute measures subway coverage inside the neighborhood, not travel time to where you work.
- The safety component is a crime rate per resident. It does not separate violent crime from property crime, and a neighborhood with a small residential population but heavy daytime footfall reads worse than residents experience.
- The order here is not the order on the neighborhood pages, which print the composite alone. Both numbers are in the table.
- The 2/3 – 1/3 split is an editorial choice. It is printed here so you can disagree with it and re-read the component columns yourself.
Full scoring documentation: DwellCheck methodology.
Frequently asked questions
1What is the best neighborhood in Bronx?
On DwellCheck's Livability & Safety score, Pelham Bay ranks highest in Bronx at 6.6 out of 10. That is two thirds of its published livability composite (5.4/10) plus one third of its safety score (9/10), and its safety score comes from being #3 of 22 Bronx neighborhoods on NYPD complaints per 1,000 residents, at 43.7 per 1,000 over the 12 months ending June 30, 2026. The score covers building maintenance, subway access, trees and noise, park access and crime rate. It still contains no rent, price or school data.
2How is the Livability & Safety score calculated?
Two components, both printed in the table so you can reproduce any row by hand. Livability & Safety = (2/3 × livability composite) + (1/3 × safety score), rounded to one decimal. The livability composite is the score published on each neighborhood's own page: (0.30 × practical + 0.20 × commute + 0.20 × art + 0.15 × outdoor) ÷ 0.85, where practical is HPD housing violations per residential lot, commute counts subway stations and lines inside the neighborhood, ART combines tree density with 311 noise per resident, and outdoor combines tree count with park proximity. And safety score = borough safety percentile ÷ 10, where the borough safety percentile is the neighborhood's standing on NYPD complaints per 1,000 residents among the 22 Bronx neighborhoods with a safety page — 100 means the lowest crime rate per resident in the borough.
3Why does this ranking differ from the score on each neighborhood's page?
The neighborhood pages print the livability composite, which has no crime term in it. This page ranks on the composite blended with a safety score, so the order is different and the headline number is higher or lower than the composite. Both numbers appear in the table for every neighborhood, and nothing about the published composites changed — only this page's ranking metric.
4Is a high score here comparable with a high score in another borough?
No, and this is the score's main limitation. The safety component is a rank within the borough, so the safest neighborhood in any borough scores 10 on safety even where the borough's absolute crime rate is much higher than another's. Compare the "complaints per 1,000 residents" column instead — that is an absolute rate and it is comparable everywhere.
5What does this ranking still leave out?
Rent and sale prices: the repo holds no neighborhood rent-level data, so there is no affordability input and a cheap neighborhood and an expensive one can score identically. School quality, and job access beyond subway coverage inside the neighborhood. Crime is now in the score, but only as a rate per resident over 12 months ending June 30, 2026 — read the Bronx safest-neighborhoods page for the full crime picture including violent crime and shootings.
6What are the best neighborhoods in Bronx for families?
We do not have family-specific data — no school ratings, playground counts or household-composition scores — so we do not publish a "best for families" ranking rather than dressing this one up as one. The columns closest to what families usually ask about are the safety score, outdoor (tree count and park proximity) and practical (HPD housing violations, so how well buildings are maintained); all three are in the table above, and the quietest-neighborhoods page covers noise.
7How often do these scores change?
They change when the city data is re-pulled and the guide and safety files are regenerated. Each neighborhood page shows the generation date for its own scores, and the safety data behind the safety component covers the 12 months ending June 30, 2026. The ranking is a snapshot of city records, not a live feed.
More Bronx rankings
Check a specific Bronx address
Neighborhood numbers are averages over a whole neighborhood. Enter any address to see the NYPD complaints, 311 complaints and HPD records around that building.
Search an address