Nassau owns New York’s Best Places to Live — here’s the county’s top 20 for 2026

Kensington lands No. 1 in all of New York — and Nassau holds seven of the state’s top 10 spots

Nassau County didn’t just perform well in Niche’s 2026 Best Places to Live rankings. It dominated them.

Kensington claimed the No. 1 spot in all of New York state, leading a Nassau sweep that placed seven county communities in the state’s top 10 and 11 in the top 25 — a showing that has no parallel elsewhere in the state. Perhaps more impressive is that Kensington ranks No. 21 overall among Best Places to Live in America and No. 3 in the report’s Best Places to Raise a Family in America category.

Niche posted its rankings on Friday.

Great Neck Plaza finished No. 2 statewide, Manhasset No. 3, and Garden City No. 5. Lake Success, Syosset, and Searingtown rounded out Nassau’s top-10 statewide contingent at Nos. 7, 8, and 9, respectively.

The Great Neck area alone placed five communities in Nassau’s top 20 — Kensington, Great Neck Plaza, Great Neck Gardens (No. 12), Russell Gardens (No. 14) and Great Neck Estates (No. 18).

Niche analyzes a combination of federal and local data, including public school quality, crime rates and housing trends, along with millions of resident reviews to determine its rankings.

CLICK: Suffolk’s top 20 Best Places to Live in ’26

Nationally, Atlantic Station in Atlanta ranked as the best place to live in America, followed by Colonial Village in Arlington, Virginia, and Evergreen Park in Palo Alto, California.

Niche’s top 20 Best Places to Live in Nassau

Nassau Rank	Place	NY Rank
1	Kensington	1
2	Great Neck Plaza	2
3	Manhasset	3
4	Garden City	5
5	Lake Success	7
6	Syosset	8
7	Searingtown	9
8	Thomaston	11
9	Great Neck Gardens	12
10	Munsey Park	15
11	East Williston	19
12	Plainview	26
13	Old Bethpage	30
14	Russell Gardens	34
15	Roslyn	36
16	Bellerose	38
17	Malverne	39
18	Great Neck Estates	43
19	Hewlett	44
20	Jericho	46

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