Here's Where To Find Affordable Rents Near Top NYC Schools

NEW YORK — New Yorkers don't have to abscond to the suburbs for cheap housing and a good education. A dozen New York City neighborhoods with top-ranked schools have more affordable rents than other areas without them, a recent report shows.

Six zip codes in Queens, four in Manhattan and two in Brooklyn that host high-performing elementary and middle schools schools have average rents cheaper than other parts of those boroughs that lack strong schools, according to the RentCafe report released Wednesday.

The real estate website analyzed how the presence of strong schools relate to rents in 382 zip codes across the 30 most populous U.S. cities. Some 45 percent of the areas with at least one school highly rated by GreatSchools.org have cheaper average rents than those that did not, the report says.

Several zip codes with strong schools offered huge discounts from less academically rigorous areas — and the biggest were in Queens. The borough is home to five of the top seven zips with the nation's largest price differences compared to neighborhoods without top-ranked schools, RentCafe found.

Leading the pack was the 11432 zip code covering Jamaica Hills and Jamaica Estates, which has an average rent of $1,765, the report says. That's a staggering $1,620 below the $3,385 rent in zip codes without top schools, according to RentCafe.

Also ranking in the top 15 was Brooklyn's 11226 zip code, which encompasses parts of Flatbush and Prospect Park South and is home to three top-rated schools, the report shows. Rentals there go for $2,027 on average, more than $1,000 cheaper than the rent for other Brooklyn neighborhoods without strong schools, RentCafe says.

The discounts were smaller in Manhattan, ranging from just $7 in East Harlem's 10029 zip code to about $700 in the Upper East Side's 10075 zip code, the report shows.

New York City is unsurprisingly home to the nation's largest number of well-ranked schools overall, with 329 in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens combined, the report shows. They account for slightly more than a quarter of all the elementary and middle schools in those three boroughs, tying for the fourth-highest proportion in the nation, according to RentCafe.

The website defined top-ranked schools as those that GreatSchools scored an 8, 9 or 10 on its rating scale. The nonprofit rates schools based on test scores, college readiness and the prevalence of advanced courses, among other factors.

RentCafe used rent data from the Yardi Matrix, the website's sister company that reports on properties in more than 130 U.S. markets.

Here are the 12 New York City zip codes where strong schools come at a discount, according to RentCafe. Read the full report here.

Queens

Rent in zip codes without top-rated schools: $3,385

• 11432 (Jamaica Hills and Jamaica Estates) — average rent of $1,765
• 11355 (Flushing and Murray Hill) — average rent of $1,885
• 11373 (Elmhurst) — average rent of $1,917
• 11368 (Corona) — average rent of $1,952
• 11374 (Rego Park) — average rent of $2,104
• 11375 (Forest Hills) — average rent of $2,466

Manhattan

Rent in zip codes without top-rated schools: $3,710

• 10075 (Upper East Side) — average rent of $3,005
• 10044 (Roosevelt Island) — average rent of $3,341
• 10009 (East Village and Stuyvesant Town) — average rent of $3,500
• 10029 (East Harlem) — average rent of $3,703

Brooklyn

Rent in zip codes without top-rated schools: $3,056

• 11226 (Flatbush and Prospect Park South) — average rent of $2,027
• 11235 (Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach and Sheepshead Bay) — average rent of $2,260