Is Murray Hill Safe? Manhattan Livability, Crime & Rent
Murray Hill scores 5.9—a Midtown neighborhood that trades character for convenience, with few housing violations and improving safety undercut by noise and a weak commute score.
Murray Hill at a glance
- Borough
- Manhattan
- Livability score
- 5.9/10
- Borough rank (NYC Open Data guides)
- #22 of 33
- Safety verdict
- Much Safer Than Average
- Crimes (12 mo)
- 2,578
- Subway stations
- 1 (Grand Central-42 St)
- Data updated
- 2026-09-14
Is Murray Hill Safe?
Murray Hill, Manhattan scores 5.9/10 for overall livability, ranking #22 of 33 Manhattan neighborhoods scored from NYC Open Data. Murray Hill scores 5.9—a Midtown neighborhood that trades character for convenience, with few housing violations and improving safety undercut by noise and a weak commute score.
The livability score draws on HPD housing violations, subway access, NYC Parks' tree inventory and parks, and 311 noise complaints per resident from NYC Open Data, refreshed periodically rather than live. It does not include crime; NYPD complaint and shooting figures are on the Murray Hill safety page. Safety varies by block — check a specific Murray Hill address below for a block-level breakdown.
Score Overview
Vertical line = borough median. Scale: 0-10.
Practical measures HPD housing violations per residential lot over the last 12 months (higher = fewer violations). Borough medians are computed across DwellCheck's Manhattan neighborhood guides.
Neighborhood Character
Murray Hill mixes walk-up apartment buildings (36% of residential tax lots) with elevator buildings (25%) along tree-lined blocks. You'll find 212 trees within a 200-meter radius on a typical block, with a tree density of 8.2/10—real shade in Midtown. The East River Esplanade and nearby parks give you waterfront access and green space (the 3 nearest parks average 495 meters from the neighborhood's center), though noise complaints run moderate at 6,536 annually. Grand Central-42 Street station (4, 5, 6, 7, S lines) anchors your transit options. The neighborhood reads as young professional: dense, convenient, loud, and relentlessly practical.
Livability & Restoration
Trees
212 trees
Expected in a 200m circle (NYC Parks tree inventory) | Density: 8.2/10 (city percentile)
In Toronto, 10 more trees on a city block went with a rise in self-rated health comparable to being 7 years younger (Kardan et al., 2015, Scientific Reports). In a cross-sectional study of London boroughs, each additional street tree per km of street went with 1.18 fewer antidepressant prescriptions per 1,000 residents (Taylor et al., 2015, Landscape and Urban Planning).
Park Access
10 parks
NYC Parks properties inside the neighborhood | largest: St. Vartan Park | nearest to the center: St. Vartan Park, 470m | 3 nearest average 495m from the neighborhood's center
Acoustic Quality
2/10
Noise proxy score (higher = quieter)
Environmental noise exposure increases the occurrence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease; WHO's night-noise guidelines call average outdoor night noise above 55 dB increasingly dangerous for public health (Basner et al., 2014, The Lancet).
What is the ART Score?
ART stands for Attention Restoration Theory (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989) — the framework environmental psychologists use to measure whether a place helps your brain recover from mental fatigue, or pushes it deeper into overload. Cities deplete directed attention (the effortful focus you use at work); exposure to restorative environments replenishes it.
DwellCheck uses the idea in two separate places, and they measure different things. The neighborhood ART score below comes from neighborhood-wide data: up to 5 points from tree density (a city percentile) and up to 5 from how few 311 noise complaints there are per resident. An address report has no ART score. It runs the Wellness checks below, and their points go into the address’s overall score.
Within a point of the Manhattan median.
What an address report checks instead (Wellness)
- ±Sensory environment. A calm score minus a busy score, each starting at 50. Busy: a firehouse within 100m (+15) or 200m (+8), and 311 noise complaints within 200m over 6 months (15+ adds 5, 40+ adds 12, 80+ adds 20, and 3 more at 20+ complaints that include vehicle or street noise). Calm: a library (+15), community garden (+12) or public plaza or atrium (POPS; +15 indoor, +8 outdoor) within 200m, and a park within 300m (+10; +15 at 1+ acre; +20 at 5+ acres). A difference of +20 or more adds 8 points; −10 to −29 costs 2; −30 or less costs 4. Bars, museums, tourists and foot traffic are not counted.
- +Third places (Oldenburg, 1989). Public libraries, public plazas and atriums (POPS) and community gardens within 400m: 1–2 add 5 points, 3 or more add 10. Cafés and community centers are not counted. In a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies, loneliness or social isolation went with a 29% higher risk of incident coronary heart disease (Valtorta et al., 2016, Heart).
- 0Street vitality (Jacobs, 1961). Permitted block parties, farmers markets and similar community events in the borough over the past 12 months. The event data has no coordinates, so this is a borough-wide count shown for context. It doesn’t change the score.
Health mechanism. The theory holds that natural settings let directed attention recover. The evidence is mixed: a systematic review of 31 studies (Ohly et al., 2016, Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B) found that time in natural environments improved 3 of 13 pooled attention measures (Digit Span Forward, Digit Span Backward and Trail Making Test B) and showed no marked benefit on the other 10.
Theoretical foundations. Kaplan & Kaplan (1989), The Experience of Nature; Jacobs (1961), The Death and Life of Great American Cities; Oldenburg (1989), The Great Good Place.
Transit & Commute
Subway Stations
Commute Score
4.5/10
Borough median: 7/10
Outdoor & Green Space
Avg Tree Count
212
Trees expected in a 200m circle
Tree Density
8.2/10
1,689 trees per km² in NYC Parks' tree inventory (street and park trees); city percentile, 1 = sparsest
Largest Parks In or Near the Neighborhood
- St. Vartan Park
- Asser Levy Playground
- East River Esplanade
- Bellevue South Park
- Robert Moses Playground
Nearest to the neighborhood's center: St. Vartan Park, about 470m. The 3 nearest NYC Parks properties average 495m from the center (approximate park centers, not entrances).
Practical Living
Practical (HPD violations): 7/10 (Manhattan median 6). It measures HPD housing violations per residential lot over the last 12 months (higher = fewer violations).
Building Mix (Residential Tax Lots)
Share of the 896 residential tax lots in the neighborhood by PLUTO building class (NYC Department of City Planning).
Who Murray Hill Is For
Safety-conscious renters
Murray Hill has a lower crime rate per resident than 85% of Manhattan neighborhoods, with 2,578 crimes over 12 months and crime down 17.6%.
People who need predictable urban infrastructure
High-rise heavy, moderate rodent complaints (103), established dining district. Suits those seeking order over neighborhood character; the ART/Livability score (4.6) lags the borough median.
Pros & Cons
Strengths
Subway-adjacent living
Grand Central-42 St serves 4, 5, 6, 7, and S lines
Waterfront and park access
Parks include East River Esplanade and Asser Levy Playground (the 3 nearest parks average 495m from the neighborhood's center); outdoor score of 7.2 (just below the borough median of 7.3)
Relative safety in Manhattan terms
Lower crime rate per resident than 85% of Manhattan neighborhoods; rodent complaints moderate at 103 annually
Trade-offs
Noise complaints
6,536 noise complaints annually—classified as moderate. Plan for persistent urban noise.
Limited neighborhood character
Art/livability score of 4.6 lags borough median of 4.7; largely chain dining and high-rise residential, less distinctive than adjacent neighborhoods
High-rise dominance
Elevator buildings and condominiums hold much of the housing; fewer ground-level retail and community spaces
Score Any Address in Murray Hill
Get detailed livability scores based on building health, transit access, safety, noise levels, and 15+ NYC data sources.
Search an Address in Murray HillFrequently Asked Questions about Murray Hill
1Is Murray Hill safe?
By NYPD data, Murray Hill is rated "Much Safer Than Average", with a lower crime rate per resident than 85% of Manhattan neighborhoods. 2,578 crime incidents and 0 shooting incidents over the past 12 months. See the safety page for the full breakdown.
2What is the average rent in Murray Hill?
Rents in Murray Hill, Manhattan vary significantly by building and apartment type. Market pricing isn't aggregated for this neighborhood yet; use DwellCheck to research specific addresses for HPD registration, HPD violations, and other building-level records. DwellCheck doesn't show rent-stabilization status; request the apartment's rent history from DHCR for that.
3How is transit access in Murray Hill?
Murray Hill has a commute score of 4.5/10. 1 subway stations serve the area: Grand Central-42 St.
4What are the best streets in Murray Hill?
The best streets depend on your priorities. Use DwellCheck to compare specific addresses across livability, safety, transit, and environmental factors.
5What is Murray Hill known for?
Murray Hill sits in Manhattan and ranks #22 of 33 Manhattan neighborhoods scored from NYC Open Data on DwellCheck's livability score (5.9/10). It's served by 1 subway station (Grand Central-42 St). Murray Hill scores 5.9—a Midtown neighborhood that trades character for convenience, with few housing violations and improving safety undercut by noise and a weak commute score.
6What is it like to live in Murray Hill?
DwellCheck scores Murray Hill, Manhattan from NYC Open Data on practical (HPD housing violations per residential lot over the last 12 months (higher = fewer violations)), commute (subway stations and lines in the neighborhood), ART (tree density and 311 noise complaints per resident), outdoor (trees and park proximity). Murray Hill's composite is 5.9/10. Murray Hill scores 5.9—a Midtown neighborhood that trades character for convenience, with few housing violations and improving safety undercut by noise and a weak commute score. For the block-by-block view, run any specific Murray Hill address through DwellCheck.
7Where is Murray Hill?
Murray Hill is in Manhattan, New York City. DwellCheck maps it to the Murray Hill-Kips Bay Neighborhood Tabulation Area (MN0603), which falls in the Census tabulation area that approximates Manhattan Community District 6 (East Midtown-Murray Hill). Its main ZIP codes are 10016, 10017 and 10010. Subway stations in the neighborhood include Grand Central-42 St.
8What ZIP code is Murray Hill in?
Murray Hill spans ZIP codes 10016 (75% of residential units), 10017 (14%) and 10010 (11%). Shares are of the 42,824 residential units in the Murray Hill-Kips Bay Neighborhood Tabulation Area (MN0603), from NYC PLUTO 26v2 tax-lot records.
9Can you walk around Murray Hill at night?
Murray Hill is classified as "Much Safer Than Average" by NYPD complaint data. Over the past 12 months it recorded 0 shooting incidents and 2,578 total crime incidents. Walking at night carries the same risk profile as anywhere in NYC: stay on commercial corridors with foot traffic, avoid empty side streets after midnight, and prefer subway lines that run 24/7.
10Is Murray Hill dangerous?
By NYPD data, Murray Hill is rated "Much Safer Than Average", with a lower crime rate per resident than 85% of Manhattan neighborhoods. 2,578 crime incidents over 12 months. Block-level risk varies; check the address-level safety score for any specific street or building.
11What parts of Murray Hill should I avoid?
NYPD complaint records carry approximate incident coordinates, but a neighborhood total can't tell you which blocks drive it, so we don't publish an "avoid this street" list. For a specific block, use DwellCheck's address-level safety score, which counts NYPD crime complaints within a 300m radius of the building over the latest 12 months of published data and compares that count with the borough average.
12Is Murray Hill a good place to live?
Murray Hill scores 5.9/10 for overall livability and has a lower crime rate per resident than 85% of Manhattan neighborhoods. Murray Hill scores 5.9—a Midtown neighborhood that trades character for convenience, with few housing violations and improving safety undercut by noise and a weak commute score. Whether it's a good fit depends on what you weight: families, solo renters, and remote workers each prioritize different factors (noise, transit access, parks, building quality).
13What is the average DwellScore in Murray Hill?
5.9 composite. Practical (7/10) drives the composite; livability (4.6) and commute (4.5) pull it down relative to borough medians.
14How safe is Murray Hill?
Murray Hill has a lower crime rate per resident than 85% of Manhattan neighborhoods. Crime fell 17.6% year-over-year, to 2,578 reported crimes in the trailing 12 months. Noise complaints are moderate (6,536).
15What's the transit situation?
Grand Central-42 Street is the primary hub, serving the 4, 5, 6, 7, and S lines. The commute score is 4.5, below the borough median of 7.0.
16How much green space is there?
You'll find an average of 212 trees within 200 meters on a typical block with 8.2/10 tree density. Parks include the East River Esplanade, St. Vartan Park, and Asser Levy Playground; the 3 nearest parks average 495m from the neighborhood's center.
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