12 Long Island towns among top 50 places to raise a family in America: Niche

A dozen Long Island communities are among America’s 50 Best Places to Raise a Family, according to an annual ranking released Monday by Niche.

Seven Nassau County neighborhoods — Kensington (No. 3), Syosset (No. 5), Lake Success (No. 9), Great Neck Gardens (No. 11), Jericho (No. 14), East Hills (No. 15) and Herricks (No. 18) — all cracked the top 20. They are followed by Plainview at No. 23, Searingtown (No. 36), Great Neck Plaza (No. 38), Roslyn Heights (No. 41) and East Williston (No. 49).

Other notable Long Island places on the list include Brookville at No. 64, Manhasset at No. 75, and 101st ranked Hewlett Harbor.

Philadelphia suburbs Devon and Chesterbrook are ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on the Best Places to Raise a Family in America list, which is part of Niche’s ninth annual Best Places to Live in America rankings.

Niche says it creates the annual Best Places to Live rankings by using data from such sources as the U.S. Census, FBI, Bureau of Labor Statistics and CDC, combined with millions of resident reviews. The company indicates that it considers factors such as affordability, the local housing market, neighborhood diversity, area public schools and walkability.

Close to 18,000 towns and neighborhoods, along with 228 cities, were included in Niche’s study.

Best places to live

Long Island was similarly impressive in Niche’s headlining Best Places to Live in America category. Here’s a list of the eight Long Island communities that landed in the top 100.

• No. 10: Great Neck Gardens
• No. 13: Great Neck Plaza
• No. 22: Herricks
• No. 25: Syosset
• No. 27: Kensington
• No. 55: Lake Success
• No. 71: Plainview
• No. 82: East Williston

Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania, for the fourth straight year is No. 1 among Best Places to Live in America. Cambridge, Massachusetts, ranked No. 1 on Niche’s Best Cities to Live in America list.

Suffolk County notables

While Suffolk County did not have any communities ranked in either the Best Places to Raise a Family or Best Places to Live categories, 13 of the county’s neighborhoods earned an A+ overall Niche grade, including Dix Hills, Cold Spring Harbor and Stony Brook, who placed Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, in Niche’s Best Places to Live in Suffolk County.

Related story

Suffolk County’s best places to live in 2023, ranked in new report

_{Top photo: 45 North Drive in Kensington, Long Island (Sotheby’s International Realty).}