67fit
West Village
$3K median rent
West 4th, brownstone streets that ignore the grid, and rents that assume you already live here. The postcard is the product.
NightlifeWalk 68Safety 24
New York/Lower East Side
41fit
Lower East Side
Official neighborhood: Lower East Side
Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · NYPD Oct 2025 – Jun 2026 · OSM Sep 2026 · updated Sep 2026
Orchard Street, public housing, and new condos sharing the same blocks. Night-out density with daytime fruit stands.
lesorchardchinatown
Best in New York for familiesWalkable New YorkUnder $2,500 rent
Why this score
Safety
10
148 violent · 861 property · 31.4 per 1k (Oct 2025 – Jun 2026)-40 vs city set
Schools
7
Rating 6.0 / 10 nearby-40 vs city set
Walk
31
OSM: 67 groceries · 55 cafes · 91 transit · 120 parks-9 vs city set
Cost
100
$1,780 ACS median vs your rent budget+14 vs city set
Vibe
43
OSM: 55 cafes · 277 restaurants · 100 bars · 120 parks+6 vs city set
Commute to work
From Lower East Side, a typical weekday is 18 min to Midtown, 15 min to FiDi, 18 min to Downtown Brooklyn. Not live traffic.
FiDi is the fastest of these three job centers from here.
Midtown
18 min
Times Square, Hudson Yards · -9 min vs the city-set median
FiDi
15 min
Wall Street, ferries · -14 min vs the city-set median · fastest of these three
Downtown Brooklyn
18 min
BAM, Dumbo, Borough Hall · -4 min vs the city-set median
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 $1,780 — every occupied rental mixed together, not the 1-bed in the window.
That is 27% of median household income — under the 30% HUD line. A household at this area’s median income ($79K) could “afford” about $1,966 a month at 30% of pay.
75% of households rent. Median home value is $890,452.
ACS median rent
$1,780
30% income budget
$1,966
Rent / income
27%
Median home
$890,452
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for New York city. Up 48% since 2014. Lower East Side is 2% below 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: 67 groceries, 55 cafes, 120 parks, and 91 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 120 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (91 stops or stations).
55 cafes and 277 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 11 of the other 21 areas in this city.
Population
32,164
Median age
39.6
Median income
$79K
Renters
75%
Bachelor+
52%
Violent / 1k
4.6
Property / 1k
26.8
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 7 census tracts · NYPD Oct 2025 – Jun 2026 · OSM 2026-09-01
Nightlife
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.
Orchard Street, public housing, and new condos sharing the same blocks. Night-out density with daytime fruit stands. The F/J/M/Z and a lot of walking. It is not a resolved neighborhood, which is why it is interesting.
Saturday night on Ludlow is not Tuesday on the public-housing side streets. Tour both, on purpose. Weight vibe and cost (relative to SoHo). Chinatown and the EV bleed in. That bleed is the LES.
Compiled from Zillow neighborhood guides, 5280 Magazine, Chicago and San Francisco resident guides, Mpls With Love, Eastside LA reporting, Seattle Times coverage, 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.
765 reports
- Illegal Parking133
- Noise - Commercial77
- Noise - Street/Sidewalk74
- Noise - Residential67
- Graffiti33
- Urinating in Public
- Lead
- Noise - Street/Sidewalk
- Noise - Commercial
- Homeless Person Assistance
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: the beach and lost-and-found.
- NYC Chinatown at Sunset
r/nyc · Aug 14 · 147 upvotes
- LOST PARAKEET/BUDGIE @ Orchard Beach, Bronx, NYC - Please help!
r/nyc · Aug 30 · 93 upvotes · 6 comments
- Ms.Rachel spotted in Chinatown!
r/nyc · Aug 27 · 79 comments
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 Lower East Side safe?
Lower East Side shows more Part I than most of this New York set (safety 10 vs city 50). NYPD logged 4.6 violent and 26.8 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 31.4 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in Lower East Side?
ACS median rent is $1,780 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 75% of households rent. Median home value is $890,452. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is Lower East Side walkable?
Walk is 31 here vs 40 for the New York set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 67 groceries, 55 cafes, 91 transit stops, 120 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is Lower East Side good for families?
There is more night and visitor traffic in the mix — not the quietest family default. Nearby school rating is 6.0 / 10. Median age is 39.6. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from Lower East Side?
18 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 Lower East Side?
About 32,164 people. Median income $79K. 52% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to Lower East Side?
East Village, DUMBO, Fort Greene sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official neighborhoods, start with Lower East Side vs East Village.
Next door
Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.
Lower East Side vs East VillageLower East Side vs DUMBOLower East Side vs Fort Greene
60fit
East Village
$2K median rent
St. Marks to Tompkins, bars stacked on bars, and a residual punk that the brunch menus cannot quite kill.
NightlifeWalk 53Safety 43
52fit
SoHo / Tribeca
$3K median rent
Cast-iron and cobblestones, then quiet streets and art-storage money. Tourists on Broadway; actual residents one block over.
NightlifeWalk 58Safety 0
49fit
Fort Greene
$2K median rent
The park, BAM, and brownstones that held value through every cycle. Clinton Hill is the next street over.
Family streetsWalk 33Safety 57
44fit
DUMBO
$3K median rent
Cobblestones under the bridges, tech offices, and a park that photographs well. Downtown Brooklyn is in the same official unit.
PlannedWaterfrontWalk 43Safety 14