Living in Jackson Heights: rent, commute and grades

Queens · Updated October 2026

A prewar brick apartment building with a landscaped garden path and mature trees.

A sunlit corner with brick prewar apartment buildings and full summer trees.

Tan brick prewar apartment buildings along a street with parked cars and trees.

Shop signs and street lights glowing at dusk next to the elevated station entrance.

A paved plaza with umbrellas and benches beside the elevated tracks and shops.

Photo credits

Photo: Deans Charbal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: CastIronSeasoner, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Deans Charbal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Tenzin Youdon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Elyaqim Mosheh Adam אליקים משה אדם from Jackson Heights, New York, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Rent in Jackson Heights

$1,584 a month

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

Jackson Heights is cheaper with roommates

Find people looking in Jackson Heights

BOverall

Jackson Heights graded

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

Everyday life

BWalkability
The average home has 4.4 of 5 everyday needs within a 10-minute walk (grocery store, restaurant, cafe, subway station, park) and about 496 places to eat or shop.
Residents: Biking to Astoria is easy, with many Citi Bike docks along 34th Avenue. Resident, Sep 2025
AFood and shopping
Within a 10-minute walk of the average home: about 134 places to eat, 24 kinds of cuisine, 5.5 large grocery stores and 320 open storefronts.
Residents: Shops, restaurants and sweets are everywhere, almost overwhelmingly so. Resident of 19 years, May 2025
City data and 4 resident threads on Reddit agree on this grade.
FParks and green space
87% of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park of an acre or more, with about 11 acres of parkland within 1 km and about 485 street trees within 300 m of the average home.
Residents: Plenty of greenery and gardens, thanks to well tended co-op buildings. Resident of a few years, formerly in Brooklyn, Oct 2026
City data alone would give D; what residents say in 5 Reddit threads moves it to F.

People

BCommunity
18% of households moved in since 2018, 8% are roommates sharing a home, 16% of residents are 22 to 34, and there are about 78 cafes and bars within a 10-minute walk of the average home.
ANightlife
About 64 bars, clubs and restaurants licensed to serve alcohol on site within a 10-minute walk of the average home.

Home and safety

B-Safety
5.9 murders, robberies, felony assaults and burglaries were reported per 1,000 residents in 2025 (555 in all).
Residents: Feels very safe. Resident of 19 years, May 2025
City data alone would give C+; what residents say in 6 Reddit threads moves it to B-.
C-Quiet
39 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: Roosevelt Avenue is noisy, but the rest of the neighborhood is really quiet. Resident of 20 years, Nov 2025
City data alone would give C+; what residents say in 6 Reddit threads moves it to C-.
C-Building upkeep
32.4 serious housing code violations (class B or C) were issued in 2025 per 100 rented homes, and there were 9.8 heat or hot water complaints per 100 rented homes.
Residents: Renting a unit in a co-op building comes without rent-stabilization protections, which can mean no lease renewal or steep rent increases. Resident, Sep 2025

Who lives there

A mix of ages

What residents say

Residents like

SafetyFeels very safe. Resident of 19 years, May 2025
WalkabilityBiking to Astoria is easy, with many Citi Bike docks along 34th Avenue. Resident, Sep 2025
QuietRoosevelt Avenue is noisy, but the rest of the neighborhood is really quiet. Resident of 20 years, Nov 2025
Parks and green spacePlenty of greenery and gardens, thanks to well tended co-op buildings. Resident of a few years, formerly in Brooklyn, Oct 2026
Food and shoppingStill has amazing local food, though chain restaurants have been multiplying. Resident, Oct 2025
SafetyWalking day or night has never felt unsafe in 18 years of living here. Resident of 18 years, Nov 2024

Residents don’t like

QuietNoise is one of the bigger everyday quality of life problems, along with reckless driving. Resident, Oct 2025
Building upkeepRenting a unit in a co-op building comes without rent-stabilization protections, which can mean no lease renewal or steep rent increases. Resident, Sep 2025
SafetyIt may not feel unsafe, but smoke shops, open sex work and drug dealing make daily life here unpleasant. Resident, Nov 2024
Building upkeepWork on landmarked historic district buildings is slow to get done; one window replacement has left a unit boarded with plywood for months. Resident, May 2025
QuietMore cars blast music at night while driving or stopped at red lights, which disrupts sleep. Resident, Oct 2026

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Safety

Counted among the safest neighborhoods in the city.
Not a resident, Oct 2026
The trade-off for good transit is a main subway station considered among the most dangerous in the city.
Former Astoria resident, Oct 2025
The neighborhood is generally safe, though Roosevelt Avenue is chaotic and mostly a place to pass through.
Resident, Sep 2025

Food and shopping

Shops, restaurants and sweets are everywhere, almost overwhelmingly so.
Resident of 19 years, May 2025
Great restaurants are scarce; the choices pale next to Astoria's.
Resident, Oct 2025
Has nice stores, upscale wine and cheese shops, a Target and plenty of banks.
Not a resident, Oct 2026

Nightlife

Roosevelt Avenue and Northern Boulevard have many bars, with the usual late-night drunk crowds.
Not a resident, Nov 2025
Going out usually means heading to Astoria or Sunnyside rather than staying local.
Area resident of 50 years, Sep 2025
It is not a neighborhood for wandering between bars.
Resident of over 10 years, Sep 2025

Walkability

Dense, with strong transit, so driving seems unnecessary for most errands.
Resident, Oct 2025
Cars and scooters weave around small children on the 34th Avenue open street.
Not a resident, Oct 2025
Drivers routinely run red lights and stop signs, block crosswalks and speed, which makes walking feel dangerous.
Not a resident, Oct 2025

Quiet

On 83rd Street, double parking blocks the Q33 bus and brings honking at all hours.
Resident, Nov 2024
37th Avenue gets loud in summer when weekly parades pass, while 34th and 35th Avenues are much quieter.
Resident, May 2025
Roosevelt Avenue is loud and full of businesses, better for shopping than for living on.
Resident of 19 years, May 2025

Parks and green space

Among the least park space per person of any neighborhood in the city.
Lifelong resident of 45+ years, Oct 2025
The 34th Avenue open street, closed to traffic, is a well loved daily walking route.
Resident of 12 years, May 2025
Leafy throughout, with trees and flowers everywhere, especially in the historic district.
Resident of 19 years, May 2025

Building upkeep

Aging brick buildings face costly facade inspections and repairs, meaning a lot of scaffolding for a long time.
Resident, Oct 2025
Rats from Travers Park often get into the buildings across the street.
Lives across from Travers Park, Oct 2025
Roaches and pests vary by building: a well run co-op has had none in years, while a previous building was overrun.
Resident, May 2025

Getting around from Jackson Heights

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

82 St-Jackson Hts 7
90 St-Elmhurst Av 7

Residents: Cars parked in bus stops keep buses from reaching the curb, making boarding hard for older and disabled riders. Resident, Oct 2025

Residents: Transit is better than in Astoria. Former Astoria resident, Oct 2025

What to know about Jackson Heights

Jackson Heights is considered one of the most diverse communities in the country. A 2019 city study counted 160 languages spoken there, brought by immigrants from South and East Asia, Latin America and much of the rest of the world. Source
74th Street is the heart of Queens' Little India, with long-standing Indian businesses selling clothing, jewelry, housewares, books and food. Newer Tibetan and Nepali restaurants have spread the South Asian strip onto 72nd and 73rd streets. Source
Further east, Roosevelt Avenue has long-running Mexican, Ecuadorian and Peruvian restaurants and Latin American shops, 82nd Street has national and local chain stores, and 37th Avenue is home to many Colombian and Argentine businesses. Source
Jackson Heights was developed for middle- and upper-income residents between the 1920s and 1940s along the then-new 7 train. Its cooperative garden apartment buildings, whose interior courtyard gardens remain today, led to its designation as a city and national historic district in 1993. Source
One real estate firm, the Queensboro Corporation, planned, managed and built much of Jackson Heights, introducing two new building types: garden apartments and garden homes. In 1919 it began offering cooperative ownership of its garden apartment complexes. Source
Diversity Plaza, a pedestrian plaza on 37th Road between 73rd and 74th streets beside the neighborhood's subway hub, adds open space for people on foot and hosts cultural and seasonal events. Source
The Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street-Broadway hub anchors the shopping district, with five subway lines and several bus routes, including a direct connection to LaGuardia Airport. Source