78fit
Bed-Stuy
$2K ACS median rent
Block after block of brownstone, a food scene that caught up, and a scale the other Brooklyn names do not have.
- Walk index
- 100
- Safety index
- 71
- Published fit
- 78
Family streets
53fit
Carroll Gardens
Official neighborhood: Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill-Gowanus-Red Hook
Published fit 53 uses default walkable weights and a $2,500 ACS rent budget — the same number as the New York table. Your current weights score this 52.
Data period. ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · NYPD Oct 2025 – Jun 2026 · OSM Sep 2026. ACS and NYPD retrieved 2026-09-01; OSM retrieved 2026-09-01. Editorial copy last revised Sep 2026.
Court Street, Italian leftovers, and Gowanus condos at the edge. Cobble Hill and Red Hook share the official polygon.
cobble hillgowanusred hook
Best in New York for familiesWalkable New YorkUnder $2,500 rent
Why this published score
Default walkable weights, $2,500 ACS rent budget. Same axes as the city table and the FAQ.
Safety
86
111 violent · 451 property · 9.6 per 1k (Oct 2025 – Jun 2026)+36 vs city set
Schools
77
Rating 8.1 / 10 nearby+30 vs city set
Walk
23
OSM: 73 groceries · 61 cafes · 66 transit · 80 parks-17 vs city set
Cost
100
$2,329 ACS median vs published $2,500 rent budget+7 vs city set
Vibe
21
OSM: 61 cafes · 164 restaurants · 57 bars · 80 parks-16 vs city set
Commute to work
From Carroll Gardens, a typical weekday is 35 min to Midtown, 28 min to FiDi, 12 min to Downtown Brooklyn. Not live traffic.
Downtown Brooklyn is the fastest of these three job centers from here.
Midtown
35 min
Times Square, Hudson Yards · +8 min vs the city-set median
FiDi
28 min
Wall Street, ferries · -1 min vs the city-set median
Downtown Brooklyn
12 min
BAM, Dumbo, Borough Hall · -10 min vs the city-set median · fastest of these three
Minutes are baked from neighborhood geography to three job centers — not Google, not this hour’s traffic.
Cost of living
The ACS median rent is $2,329 — every occupied rental mixed together, not the 1-bed in the window.
That is 19% of median household income — under the 30% HUD line. A household at this area’s median income ($148K) could “afford” about $3,704 a month at 30% of pay.
69% of households rent. Median home value is $1,626,285.
ACS median rent
$2,329
30% income budget
$3,704
Rent / income
19%
Median home
$1,626,285
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for New York city. Up 48% since 2014. Carroll Gardens is 28% above the 2024 city median.
Overlapping 5-year ACS windows (B25064), not asking rent. Census does not publish a rent series for each official neighborhood, so the line is the city place. The dashed mark is this area’s ACS 2024 median.
HUD treats 30% of income as the cost-burden line. We do not split ACS rent into 1-bed vs 2-bed. Method.
Within a walk
Within a short walk of this official neighborhood: 73 groceries, 61 cafes, 80 parks, and 66 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 80 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (66 stops or stations).
61 cafes and 164 restaurants make this one of the busier food pockets in the New York set.
OpenStreetMap, 800 meters. Not a Walk Score license. More groceries than 13 of the other 21 areas in this city.
Population
58,384
Median age
38.1
Median income
$148K
Renters
69%
Bachelor+
67%
Violent / 1k
1.9
Property / 1k
7.7
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 18 census tracts · NYPD Oct 2025 – Jun 2026 · OSM 2026-09-01
Family streets
Crime is NYPD Part I reports per 1,000 ACS residents — not a judgment of who lives here. Home and rent figures are ACS medians, not live MLS. Read the method.
On the ground
What it is like to live here, beyond the scores.
Court Street, Italian leftovers, and Gowanus condos at the edge. Cobble Hill and Red Hook share conversations this official polygon cannot contain — tour Court Street, then Smith, then the Gowanus canal blocks as different bets.
Carroll Park is the toddler commons. The F/G at Carroll Street is the train. Weight family and walk. Park Slope is the park; this is the street. Prices in the Furman Center’s Park Slope/Carroll Gardens cluster are among the city’s highest. You knew that.
Compiled from Zillow neighborhood guides, 5280 Magazine, Chicago and San Francisco resident guides, Mpls With Love, Eastside LA reporting, Seattle Times coverage, Boston planning-neighborhood writing, Philadelphia neighborhood writing, Portland neighborhood writing, Washington neighborhood-cluster writing, and local writing, 2025–2026. Editorial — not part of the fit score.
Reported here lately
City 311 service requests in this official unit, last 14 days. This is what neighbors filed with the city — not a chat thread, and not part of the fit score.
1,360 reports
- Illegal Parking419
- Noise93
- Noise - Residential72
- Noise - Street/Sidewalk56
- Homeless Person Assistance43
- Noise - Vehicle
- Noise - Residential
- Lead
- Noise - Residential
- Noise - Commercial
NYC 311 from 2020–present, last 14 days, mapped to 2020 NTAs. No addresses stored. Method.
On Reddit
Public posts from r/nyc that mention this neighborhood. Not Nextdoor, not people on this block, and not part of the fit score.
In r/nyc lately: lost-and-found.
- Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn
r/nyc · Aug 3 · 177 upvotes · 48 comments
- found the biggest patch of grass ever while walking around Cobble Hill
r/nyc · Aug 12
The line above is a reading of the titles, not a verdict. Up to 3 links, last 90 days, snapshot 2026-09-01. Method.
Common questions
Straight answers from the numbers on this page.
Is Carroll Gardens safe?
Carroll Gardens sits on the quieter side of this New York map (safety 86 vs city 50). NYPD logged 1.9 violent and 7.7 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 9.6 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in Carroll Gardens?
ACS median rent is $2,329 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 69% of households rent. Median home value is $1,626,285. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is Carroll Gardens walkable?
Walk is 23 here vs 40 for the New York set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 73 groceries, 61 cafes, 66 transit stops, 80 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is Carroll Gardens good for families?
The scores lean family relative to this city set. Nearby school rating is 8.1 / 10. Median age is 38.1. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from Carroll Gardens?
35 typical weekday minutes to Midtown. Not the app on your phone this hour. Other job centers are further down this page.
How many people live in Carroll Gardens?
About 58,384 people. Median income $148K. 67% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to Carroll Gardens?
DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, Bed-Stuy sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official neighborhoods, start with Carroll Gardens vs DUMBO.
Next door
Closest on this schematic map, scored with the same published walkable weights as the New York table. Distances here are not street geography.
Carroll Gardens vs DUMBOCarroll Gardens vs Brooklyn HeightsCarroll Gardens vs Bed-Stuy
51fit
Fort Greene
$2K ACS median rent
The park, BAM, and brownstones that held value through every cycle. Clinton Hill is the next street over.
- Walk index
- 33
- Safety index
- 57
- Published fit
- 51
Family streets
46fit
DUMBO
$3K ACS median rent
Cobblestones under the bridges, tech offices, and a park that photographs well. Downtown Brooklyn is in the same official unit.
- Walk index
- 43
- Safety index
- 14
- Published fit
- 46
PlannedWaterfront
42fit
Park Slope
$3K ACS median rent
Prospect Park, strollers, and food-coop politics that became a punchline and then a brand. The family neighborhood people mean.
- Walk index
- 0
- Safety index
- 100
- Published fit
- 42
Family streets
40fit
Brooklyn Heights
$3K ACS median rent
The promenade, the court district, and the first suburb the ferry invented. Quiet money, stoops, and a skyline you do not own.
- Walk index
- 4
- Safety index
- 81
- Published fit
- 40
Family streetsWaterfront