Diversity in every sense of the word in Queens, ‘the world’s borough’
Queens has been dubbed “the world’s borough” with good reason. Cultural enclaves — including Korean, Irish, Greek, Colombian and Chinese communities, among others — dot the borough, bringing their customs and cuisines to its neighborhoods.
“It's super diverse. That's what most people think of when they think of Queens,” says Compass agent Bianca Colasuonno, who lives in Astoria and has 20 years of experience selling in Queens. “That goes for the entire vibe of the borough.”
About 55.4% of households speak a language other than English at home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The diversity infuses a borough where foodies can indulge in food from arepas in Jackson Heights to Himalayan cuisine in Woodside to Peking duck in Flushing .
Several subways and the Long Island Rail Road offer service in Queens, with relatively quick service to Manhattan. Not every neighborhood is close to a train, however, so some locals are reliant on buses or cars.
Queens offers relatively affordable prices compared to Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. “Manhattan people are starting to think, ‘Oh, I’m going to move to Queens,’” says Compass agent Dalia Glazer. “A lot of people are still stuck on Brooklyn, but it is so expensive.”
Queens locals enjoy great Korean food at the Mokja restaurant located in Astoria.
Thousands attend the yearly Astoria Broadway Festival for food & fun attractions in Queens.
The Jackson Heights section of Queens is knows for its range of different cultures and food.
Greek revival row houses can be found in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens.
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From steel-and-glass towers to stately homes
“Even the housing stock in Queens is so diverse,” says Colasuonno. Options range from shiny new glass-and-steel towers in Long Island City to four-bedroom Tudor-style mansions with extensive lawns in Forest Hills. Brick row houses line the streets of neighborhoods like Sunnyside, which was “one of America's first planned communities,” according to Katherine O'Sullivan, an agent at Welcome Home Real Estate.
As with other parts of New York City, Queens has seen a boom in housing development in the past two decades within neighborhoods that offer quick access to Manhattan. Long Island City has been the centerpiece of that change, with the former industrial area just a subway stop away from midtown becoming home to high-rise residential towers. Astoria ’s waterfront is also undergoing a transformation, with plans for a $1.5 billion mixed-use development set to bring seven buildings with more than 2,000 residences to the area.
The median price for a Queens condo was just under $400,000 in the second quarter of 2024, while a one- to three-bedroom home was $870,000, according to a Brown Harris Stevens report. That’s considerably more affordable than Manhattan, where the median price for condos and co-ops was $1.05 million, according to a separate Brown Harris Stevens report from the same time period. Of course, prices vary broadly based on location and type of housing. Long Island City’s newer glass-and-steel towers command a pretty penny, with a four-bedroom in the tallest condo building in Queens priced at $3.85 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. A one-bedroom in a nearby waterfront condo was listed at $565,000. There are also beach properties in the Rockaways (including Far Rockaway , Rockaway Beach and Rockaway Park ), with two-bedroom co-ops costing around $665,000 and houses priced at $1 million or more.
Compare that to Jackson Heights, where a one-bedroom was listed for just under $400,000 with Brown Harris Stevens agent Yael Goldman. A renovated three-bedroom unit that hit the market for $1.595 million in late 2024 is one of the most expensive she’s listed and reflects the area’s growing popularity, she notes. “There’s no question you're getting more for your money out in Queens,” Goldman says.
New luxury condos are available in Long Island City, Queens.
There are houses close to the beach priced at $1 million or more in Neponsit, Queens.
Tudor Revival Houses are very common in Forest Hills, Queens.
A one-bedroom in a prewar coop list for under $400,000 in Jackson Heights, Queens.
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The quirks of Queens street names
Getting around Queens can be a challenge for the uninitiated — or anyone without GPS. That’s because the borough’s system for naming streets means there are multiple street names that could be easily confused (for example, there’s a 65th Avenue, 65th Road and 65th Drive).
In the borough, avenues run east and west and streets run north and south — opposite of the Manhattan grid. Avenues have consecutive numbers, but additional shorter, parallel streets in between the avenues were assigned the same numbers and called roads or drives. Hence, 65th Road next to 65th Avenue. Streets were similar; additional streets were dubbed places or lanes. There are also crescents — short, curving streets — and long straight boulevards, like Northern Boulevard, which runs through most of the borough.
Addresses in Queens are hyphenated, with the first number of a street address indicating the cross street and the second number the building's position on the block.
Queens is the only NYC borough that uses hyphenated addresses.
In 1683, Queens was originally divided into separate towns.
Northern Blvd runs east to west from Long Island to Queens.
Queens residents are said to speak 130 launguages.
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New York City’s second-largest economy
Queens has the second-largest economy of the boroughs, after Manhattan. According to the state, people work in health care, construction, retail, transportation, manufacturing and film and television production. Kaufman Astoria Studios and Silvercup Studios (the latter of which lights up the Long Island City skyline with its signage) are two notable examples of production companies located in Astoria, Sunnyside and beyond. In addition, two-thirds of Queens businesses are run by small business owners that employ one to four workers.
Silvercup Studios in Queens, NY is one of New York's largest and renowned studios.
Kaufman Studios is a huge movie production studio located in Astoria, Queens.
Queens has lots of small businesses that residents
Queens Boulevard is a major commercial artery on the east side of Kew Gardens, Queens.
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A destination for lovers of international cuisine
Queens is a dining destination, known for its variety. It’s said a person can find every global cuisine by walking the path of the 7 train. Take Sunnyside, where I Love Paraguay serves dishes based on the South American country’s indigenous recipes, or Bolivian Llama Party, offering brisket bowls using traditional spices, or Tibetan restaurant Dawa’s.
There's also Jackson Heights, famous for its Indian fare at places like Jackson Diner or Colombian arepas at Arepa Lady (which started as a cart selling the meat-filled pockets at the post office). More than 160 shops and eateries can be found along 82nd Street, which extends into Elmhurst. For Greek food, Astoria is the place to go, with central Astoria offering a vibrant shopping district.
Flushing, home to the city’s largest Chinatown, draws Asian food lovers with soup dumplings and Chinese-style egg custards. The area also offers several shopping malls featuring boutiques, national retailers and killer food courts.
Lao Yu Yuan Dumpling House has an extensive menu of Chinese staples in Flushing, Queens.
I Love Paraguay is a casual restaurant serving traditional Paraguayan fare in Queens, NY.
Bolivian Llama Party serves tasty Bolivian food with a modern twist in Queens, NY.
Queens Center Mall is the largest mall in Queens, NY.
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Subways and the Long Island Rail Road offer quick service to Manhattan
The elevated 7 line runs from Manhattan to Queens; it’s about a 17-minute ride from Times Square to Court Square in Long Island City and around 40 minutes to Flushing, the last stop on the line. Several other trains run in Queens, including the A, E, N, W, R, F, M, A, 3, J, Z and G. Interstate 278 runs north to upper Manhattan via the Queensboro Bridge and south through Brooklyn and over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge into Staten Island, while I-495 runs east into Manhattan (via the Queens-Midtown Tunnel) and west into Long Island and the Hamptons. Several ferries also stop along the Queens waterfront, with service to midtown, Wall Street and Brooklyn. Many neighborhoods are also served by the LIRR, which can cut down on commuting time. Some areas are not served by the subway or rail system, including neighborhoods north of Flushing like College Point , Maspeth and Whitestone . Areas are well connected by buses and highways, however, and the Throg’s Neck and Whitestone bridges are nearby.
New York City’s airports are both in Queens, with JFK to the south and the newly renovated LaGuardia to the north; the sixth- and 23rd-busiest airports in the U.S. in 2023.
The Mets and Queens Museum in Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Flushing Meadows Corona Park is nearly 900 acres, the largest in the borough. It offers playgrounds, courts, fields and year-round activities. The Unisphere, a steel globe surrounded by fountains, is one of the remaining relics from The World’s Fair in 1964 (and famous from the movie “Men in Black”). The Queens Botanical Garden is on the edge of Kissena Park, which has a velodrome, the only dedicated cycling track maintained by the city.
Waterfront parks include the more than 12,000-acre Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, which occupies the northern part of the island of Rulers Bar Hassock, and Jacob Riis Park, a popular beach in the southwestern part of the Rockaway Peninsula.
Contemporary art museum MoMA PS1, as well as The Noguchi Museum (celebrating the work of Japanese sculptor Isamu Noguchi) and the Socrates Sculpture Park, showcasing large installations along the river, are in Long Island City. The Queens Museum showcases art in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, while The Museum of the Moving Image, featuring exhibits and events, including a permanent Muppets exhibit, is housed in the former building of Astoria Studio. The Aqueduct Racetrack brings horse-racing enthusiasts to South Ozone Park .
Visitors can enjoy the outdoor 400m cycling track at Kissena Corridor Park in Queens.
Queens residents enjoy the skate park at Corona Park to practice their skills.
The Queens Museum located in Murray Hill, Queens has a large collection of Tiffany glass.
MoMA PS1 is a modern art destination in Long Island City, Queens.
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Highly rated schools located throughout the borough
The New York City Department of Education oversees its public schools. Until the eighth grade, most students attend the school they are zoned for, although there are charter, magnet and private schools available. Middle school students can apply to attend any school within the system, although students from the district are given preference during admissions.
For high schoolers, students choose their top 12 picks anywhere in the city and are then entered into a lottery (that means the school may not be nearby). Some high schools require applicants to meet certain academic standards for admission. Overall, Niche gives Queens an A-minus rating for schools, with public schools getting B-plus. Top schools include the Garden School in Jackson Heights and The Kew-Forest School in Forest Hills, both of which serve students from kindergarten through 12th grade and have A-plus ratings. United Nations International School in Jamaica , also rated A-plus, goes from kindergarten through eighth grade. Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School in Astoria requires an audition.
St. John's University, Queens College and LaGuardia Community College are also in Queens.
Crime varies between neighborhoods
Overall, crime is down in Queens — and across New York City — compared to several decades ago. Crime in 2023, the most recent data available, was down more than 75% compared to 1990, according to the New York Police Department. But some neighborhoods, including Long Island City and Jamaica, have higher crime rates than others. Both those areas have a crime score of five, compared to the national average of 4, according to CAP Index. Flushing and Jamaica were rated a four, while Astoria, Jackson Heights and Kew Gardens each have a crime score of three.
Outposts of New York City hospitals
There are several hospitals in Queens, many of which are branches of larger hospital systems. That includes New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital in Flushing and Mount Sinai Queens in Long Island City. Queens Hospital Center in Jamaica is also part of the Mount Sinai system. Urgent care centers, clinics and private practices are also peppered throughout the borough.
Coastal Queens future proofing shoreline after Hurricane Sandy
Parts of coastal Queens were pummeled by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, particularly the Rockaways, where three miles of boardwalk were destroyed, and more than 100 homes were lost to fire in Breezy Point. In an effort to futureproof the shore, the federal government awarded $627 million to fund the Rockaway Coastal Storm Risk Reduction Project. It will restore 19 protective stone jetties, replenish sand and reinforce the dunes, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. In addition, Old Howard Beach, north of Broad Channel, is part of the city’s efforts to raise shorelines around the city.
Frank Sinatra School of The Arts High School in Astoria, Queens has stunning architecture.
The Garden School in Queens, New York has a comfortable, home-like atmosphere.
St. John's University is a private Catholic University in Queens, NY.
Jamaica Hospital Medical Center has served the community in Queens since 1891.
On average, homes in Queens, NY sell after 83 days on the market compared to the national average of 49 days. The median sale price for homes in Queens, NY over the last 12 months is $637,000, up 6% from the median home sale price over the previous 12 months.
Housing Trends
Median List Price
$668,000
Median Sale Price
$637,000
Median Single Family Sale Price
$805,000
Median Townhouse Sale Price
$838,400
Median 2 Bedroom Sale Price
$535,000
Median Change From 1st List Price
3%
Last 12 months Home Sales
1,565
Median Home Sale Price YoY Change
$6
Average Price Per Sq Ft
$687
Neighborhood Facts
Number of Homes for Sale
856
Months of Supply
6.60
Cost of Living Comparison
Average Home Value
Source: Public Records
Top Schools in Queens, NY
Source:
Best Public Elementary Schools
#1 P.S. 121 - Queens
A
Niche
10
GreatSchools
#2 Lakeville Elementary School
A+
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#3 P.S. 098 The Douglaston School
A
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#4 P.S. 130
A
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#5 P.S. 188 - Kingsbury
A
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#6 P.S. 203 - Oakland Gardens
A
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#7 P.S. 205 - Alexander Graham Bell
A
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#8 P.S. 376
A
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#9 P.S. 79 - Francis Lewis
A
Niche
9
GreatSchools
Best Public Middle Schools
#1 Bell Academy
A
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#2 Louis Pasteur Middle School 67
A
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#3 Nathaniel Hawthorne Middle School 74
A
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#4 Scholars' Academy
A
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#5 The 30th Avenue School (G&T Citywide)
A
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#6 Great Neck South Middle School
A+
Niche
8
GreatSchools
#7 Q580 The Baccalaureate School for Global Education
A+
Niche
8
GreatSchools
#8 George J. Ryan Middle School 216
A
Niche
8
GreatSchools
#9 M.S. 158 - Marie Curie
A
Niche
8
GreatSchools
Best Public High Schools
#1 Queens High School for the Sciences at York College
A
Niche
10
GreatSchools
#2 Great Neck South High School
A+
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#3 Townsend Harris High School
A+
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#4 Queens College School For Math Science And Techno
A
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#5 Scholars' Academy
A
Niche
9
GreatSchools
#6 Bard High School Early College Queens
A+
Niche
8
GreatSchools
#7 George W Hewlett High School
A+
Niche
8
GreatSchools
#8 Great Neck North High School
A+
Niche
8
GreatSchools
#9 Q580 The Baccalaureate School for Global Education
A+
Niche
8
GreatSchools
Best Private Schools
#1 Garden School
A+
Niche
#2 Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Academy
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Disclaimer: Certain information contained herein is derived from information provided by parties other than Homes.com. Our sources include: Accuweather, Public Records and Neustar. All information provided is deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed to be accurate and should be independently verified.
