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East Village vs Williamsburg

East Village and Williamsburg are two official neighborhoods in New York. Williamsburg is the calmer Part I map (48 vs 43). Williamsburg wins the errand count. East Village has the lower ACS median ($2,399).

Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · NYPD Oct 2025 – Jun 2026 · OSM Sep 2026 · updated Sep 2026

Scores

Fit axes among official New York neighborhoods.

AxisEast VillageWilliamsburg
Safety4348
Schools2740
Walk5372
Cost fit10098
Vibe7561
Median rent$2,399$2,549
Median home$1,076,273$1,284,729
Population59,866117,387
Commute to Midtown16 min27 min
Commute to FiDi15 min31 min
Commute to Downtown Brooklyn21 min13 min

Living numbers

Who rents, how old, how much crime, how many shops — beside the scores.

FactEast VillageWilliamsburg
Renters83%85%
Median age33.532.9
Median income$105K$129K
Part I per 1k14.513.9
Groceries / 800m88100
Transit stops / 800m105221
Parks / 800m120120
311 last 14 days1,2672,487

Rent

Rent since 2014

ACS 5-year median gross rent for New York city. Up 48% since 2014. E Vill is 32% above the 2024 city median. Wburg is 40% above the 2024 city median.

$1.4k$2.9kE Vill $2,399Wburg $2,549201420162018202020222024

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. Dashed marks are each area’s ACS 2024 median.

Which to pick

The same numbers as the table, in sentences. Nobody wins the city.

Pick East Village if you want the cafes and the night and the shorter ride to Midtown is the point. Vibe is 75 vs 61. 16 vs 27 minutes to Midtown. ACS median rent is $2,399 vs $2,549. Read both pages before you decide.

Pick Williamsburg if you want the errands on foot and the school rating nearby is the point. Walk is 72 vs 53. Schools score 40 vs 27. Read both pages before you decide.

East Village

St. Marks to Tompkins, bars stacked on bars, and a residual punk that the brunch menus cannot quite kill.

$2,399 median rent · safety 43 · walk 53

Williamsburg

The Bedford stop, the waterfront towers, and a weekend that starts on Thursday. Still the default Brooklyn landing.

$2,549 median rent · safety 48 · walk 72

Common questions

Same pair, said in questions. The numbers are in the tables.

Which is cheaper, East Village or Williamsburg?

East Village is the lower ACS median: $2,399 vs $2,549. About 83% rent in East Village vs 85% in Williamsburg. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.

Is East Village more walkable than Williamsburg?

Williamsburg wins the errand count (walk 53 vs 72). Groceries inside 800 meters: 88 vs 100. Not a Walk Score license.

Which is safer on this map, East Village or Williamsburg?

Williamsburg is the calmer Part I read (48 vs 43). Combined rate 13.9 vs 14.5 per 1,000. Visitors count in those numbers.

Which scores higher for families, East Village or Williamsburg?

Williamsburg leads the school axis (40 vs 27). Nearby rating is 7.0 / 10 vs 6.6 / 10. Median age 32.9 vs 33.5. East Village has more of the night. Neither number is a school assignment.

Which has the shorter commute to Midtown?

16 minutes from East Village to Midtown, 27 from Williamsburg. East Village is the shorter weekday. Not this hour's traffic.

If you drop both

Closest official neighborhood that is not East Village or Williamsburg: Lower East Side. Orchard Street, public housing, and new condos sharing the same blocks. Night-out density with daytime fruit stands.

East Village vs Lower East SideWilliamsburg vs Lower East Side

Scores are relative among official New York neighborhoods with the same editorial weights. Read the method.