Living in Great Kills: rent, commute and grades

Staten Island · Updated November 2026

A wide empty sand beach curving along the water under a cloudy blue sky.

Pleasure boats lined up in slips at a marina under a clear blue sky.

A sunny crossroads of small shops, a delicatessen and a school-crossing sign.

A new blue-striped train pulling into a platform framed by trees and houses.

Bare trees standing in shallow flood water in a woodland park.

Photo credits

Photo: Jim.henderson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: NPS Photo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Mikeaigotti89, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: NYCDOT, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This guide also covers Eltingville, which shares Great Kills’s official city boundaries.

Rent in Great Kills

$1,880 a month, estimated

Type of homeA room in a 2-bedroom, shared by two

Great Kills is cheaper with roommates

Find people looking in Great Kills

COverall

Great Kills graded

Grades compare NYC neighborhoods with each other. How the grades work.

Everyday life

FWalkability
The average home has 2.7 of 5 everyday needs within a 10-minute walk (grocery store, restaurant, cafe, subway station, park) and about 28 places to eat or shop.
Residents: Errands such as Costco and supermarkets are reached by car. Resident, Aug 2024
FFood and shopping
Within a 10-minute walk of the average home: about 6 places to eat, 5 kinds of cuisine, 0.6 large grocery stores and 19 open storefronts.
Residents: Supermarkets, pharmacies and halal, Mexican and Indian food are all within a short drive along Hylan Boulevard. Resident, Aug 2024
B-Parks and green space
88% of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park of an acre or more, with about 341 acres of parkland within 1 km and about 424 street trees within 300 m of the average home.

People

DCommunity
15% of households moved in since 2018, 4% are roommates sharing a home, 17% of residents are 22 to 34, and there are about 4 cafes and bars within a 10-minute walk of the average home.
Residents: Eltingville strikes a nice balance, without the unfriendly neighbors some report farther south on the South Shore. Resident, Nov 2025
DNightlife
About 3 bars, clubs and restaurants licensed to serve alcohol on site within a 10-minute walk of the average home.

Home and safety

A+Safety
1.2 murders, robberies, felony assaults and burglaries were reported per 1,000 residents in 2025 (69 in all).
A+Quiet
14 noise complaints to 311 per 1,000 residents in 2025, not counting helicopter complaints, and counting each address at most 12 days a year. That measures how often people complain, not how loud it is.
Residents: The area near Great Kills Park is very quiet, and houses there can have big yards. Resident, Aug 2024
ABuilding upkeep
8.5 serious housing code violations (class B or C) were issued in 2025 per 100 rented homes, and there were 2.2 heat or hot water complaints per 100 rented homes.

Who lives there

A mix of ages

What residents say

Residents like

CommunityEltingville strikes a nice balance, without the unfriendly neighbors some report farther south on the South Shore. Resident, Nov 2025
Food and shoppingSupermarkets, pharmacies and halal, Mexican and Indian food are all within a short drive along Hylan Boulevard. Resident, Aug 2024

Residents don’t like

WalkabilityErrands such as Costco and supermarkets are reached by car. Resident, Aug 2024

Show 6 moreShow less

Safety

Eltingville is safe.
Not a resident, Aug 2024

Walkability

Shopping and transit are readily available, so you can get around with or without a car.
Not a resident, Aug 2024

Quiet

The area near Great Kills Park is very quiet, and houses there can have big yards.
Resident, Aug 2024
Eltingville is busier and noisier than the very quiet neighborhoods farther south such as Huguenot.
Not a resident, Aug 2024

Parks and green space

Great Kills Park is less well kept than it once was, and has had a radiation problem.
Not a resident, Jun 2025
The Gateway beach at Great Kills Park is a better beach option than New Dorp Beach.
Not a resident, May 2023

Getting around from Great Kills

By subway or bus, arriving by 9:00 on a weekday:Under 30 min30 to 45 min45 to 60 minOver an hourGreat Kills

Eltingville SIR
Great Kills SIR

Residents: Getting to work takes about an hour and a half by express bus, or by train and ferry, about the same as from St. George. Resident, Aug 2024

What to know about Great Kills

Great Kills Park, 523 acres on the South Shore, was created by Robert Moses and run by the city until it joined the National Park Service's Gateway National Recreation Area in 1972. It has a lifeguarded beach, trails, fishing areas and a marina on Great Kills Harbor. Source
Great Kills takes its name from kill, an old Dutch word for a creek or channel; many small streams run through the neighborhood. Source
The Poillon House at 4515 Hylan Boulevard began as a stone farmhouse of about 1720. Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted enlarged it in 1848, and it has been a city landmark since 1967. Source
Frederick Douglass Memorial Park at 3201 Amboy Road, opened in 1935, is the only surviving non-sectarian cemetery in New York City founded by and for African Americans. The city made it a landmark in 2024. Source
St. Alban's Episcopal Church, a wooden church designed by R.M. Upjohn in 1865, stands in the old village of Eltingville, then an area called Southfields with farms and small houses along Amboy Road. It has been a city landmark since 1980. Source