Is Yonkers A Good Place To Live? (Find Out Now!)

Located along the Hudson River and situated in Westchester County, Yonkers has become a hub of activity in New York State. Yonkers is one of the more populous cities in all of New York. More people are being drawn to it on a regular basis and you may find it to your liking as well.

But is making the move to Yonkers worth it? What are the reasons to take an interest in potentially living there?

For starters, Yonkers being located so close to New York City has long been a major selling point for it. The robust public transportation infrastructure in Yonkers also allows residents to save some money. Unsurprisingly though, houses are expensive in Yonkers and that can severely limit your options with regards to where you’ll be staying.

The prospect of moving to Yonkers has become more appealing to a larger number of people in recent years. Learn what the fuss is all about by continuing with this article.

New York City is arguably the cultural and economic capital of the United States. Plenty of folks want to live in New York City for the experience, but also because of their jobs. Of course, finding a suitable home in The Big Apple is easier said than done.

First off, simply finding a place there is quite the ordeal. New York City is one of the most densely populated locales in the country. It may take a while before you find an open home or apartment unit that meets your needs.

Let’s assume that you were able to find the place that suits you. There’s still no guarantee that you’ll be able to afford it. After all, houses in New York City are famous for being very expensive. Consider yourself lucky if you can find a home there on sale for under $650,000. In all likelihood, you’ll find more homes that are closer to $700,000.

If living in New York City is simply not an option for you, staying in Yonkers is a reasonable alternative. The drive to New York City from Yonkers may take about 45 minutes. A 45-minute drive is not exactly short, but it’s something people can manage for their jobs.

The close proximity of Yonkers to New York City also means you can drop by the big city during special occasions. Maybe there’s an event in the city you want to see firsthand or your favorite team is playing an important game. No matter the reason, you can head to New York City from Yonkers relatively easily.

We talked about heading to New York City for fun, but to be clear, Yonkers has a lot to offer too. The city presents residents with a wide variety of entertainment options.

Do you prefer going outside to relax in a park or perhaps hike a nearby trail? In that case, you should visit either Tibbetts Brook Park or Old Croton Trail.

If you’re interested in learning more about the history of the area, go to the Hudson River Museum. The exhibits there touch on a wide variety of topics so there’s no shortage of fun facts to learn.

Some folks prefer to partake in retail therapy if they’re feeling stressed out. Yonkers still has you covered if that’s what you’re looking for. Places such as the Cross County Shopping Center and Ridge Hill will present you with all kinds of fantastic finds.

The point here is that attractions are abundant in Yonkers. Experience them for yourself and see which ones you like the most.

Here’s a fact you should know about living in Yonkers. Most of the people there get to work by driving their own car, but it’s not an overwhelming majority.

The amount of people who travel to work by driving their car alone in Yonkers is just under 54 percent. Now, contrast to the rest of the country where 76 percent of people get to work by driving their own car. The reason why fewer people drive solo to work in Yonkers is not because of carpooling. Although it is worth noting that a slightly larger percentage of people do carpool in Yonkers.

The real reason why more people avoid driving to work solo is that they use public transportation. Nearly 28 percent of the people working in Yonkers rely on public transportation. That’s more than five times greater than the percentage for the rest of the country.

Yonkers has done a great job of serving commuters with its networks of trains and buses. This is one of those cities where you can rely on public transportation and not worry constantly about being late.

We briefly touched on house prices earlier while talking about Yonkers being located close to New York City. While houses are definitely more expensive in New York City, that doesn’t mean the options in Yonkers come cheap. The median cost for a new home in Yonkers is $525,000. It’s well above the median cost for a new home in New York State, which is $305,000.

No matter how excited you are to live in Yonkers, there’s a chance it’s simply not an option for you yet. Saving up that kind of money can take a very long time.

It’s easy to understand why homes in Yonkers are so expensive given that the city still features prime real estate. Unfortunately, those high prices may be the reason why you cannot move to Yonkers as soon as you’d like.

Despite its size and importance to New York State, the job market in Yonkers is currently in bad shape. The numbers also don’t point to things getting better in the immediate future.

Take a look at the unemployment rate for the city and you’ll see that it’s at 7.6 percent. The unemployment rate for the rest of the country is 6 percent. That is just one sign pointing to the troubled economy in Yonkers.

The projected job growth rate for the city hints at even tougher times ahead. The job market growth rate for the United States is 34 percent. For Yonkers, that number only reaches 26 percent.

Simply put, things aren’t looking too great right now for the job market in Yonkers. How quickly that will change also remains a mystery. Job security will be key if you intend to live there moving forward.

Given that a significant number of people in Yonkers use public transportation, one might assume that traffic is a problem there. It’s true that the average commute for Yonkers residents is longer than what people in other parts of the country experience. However, the gap is not that big.

The average commute time for workers in the United States is 26 minutes. For folks in Yonkers, the average commute time is 34 minutes. It comes out to a gap of about 8 minutes. You would prefer to have no gap there at all, but 8 minutes is something you can deal with. Find out if Warwick, NY is a good place to live.

Heavy snowfall is a big problem in many New York neighborhoods, but that’s not the case in Yonkers. On average, the city receives about 28 inches of snow annually. Busting out the snow blower may still be necessary, but you won’t have to do that all the time.