Photo: Agiorgio · CC BY-SA 3.0Even on the area’s higher pay, Atlantic Beach costs more to live in than almost every U.S. town
Up 9.2% in a year, 3 times the New York typical home.
Census 2020–24 home values, rents, tax bills and cost burden, measured against the median household income of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area ($99K). How TownRatings grades cost of living
Only 1 sale in April 2026: in a market this size, monthly medians swing a lot, so the typical value is the steadier guide.
The grade measures what housing costs against what households in the area earn. Atlantic Beach’s area earns well above the typical U.S. town ($99K against $74K), but homes, rent and taxes here run higher still. Owners keep up better than renters: 37% of owners pay 30% or more of income for housing (typical U.S. town: 20%), against 50% of renters.
In dollars
- $1.5Mtypical home, 185% above the New York typical homeZillow, September 2026
- $3,060a month for a two-bedroom, utilities includedHUD Fair Market Rent, 2026
- 113prices across the New York metro, where the U.S. is 100 (housing 149)BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
In paychecks the grade
- 10.1 yrsof area income buys the typical home; the typical U.S. town: 3.3$99K, New York-area income
- 42%of area income goes to the median rent; the typical U.S. town: 18%Census 2020–24
- 37%of owners do; the typical U.S. town: 20%Census 2020–24
What Atlantic Beach’s housing numbers say
A second-home town
31% of Atlantic Beach’s homes are seasonal or vacation homes, empty for much of the year. Year-round rentals are scarce: there are 86 renter households. Property taxes ↓
Renting costs far less than owning
A two-bedroom rents for about $3,060 a month. Owning the typical Atlantic Beach home, with 20% down at the calculator’s rate, runs about $9,790 with tax and insurance: 3 times as much. Can I afford it? ↓
Values rose faster than New York’s over five years
The typical Atlantic Beach home is up 45% in five years, against 30% across New York. Since October 2016 it has about doubled, from $755K to $1.5M. Price trend ↓
Prices vary a lot across the town lines
Typical values in the towns next door run from $646K in Hempstead to $2.27M in Lawrence. At $1.5M, Atlantic Beach is the second most expensive of the 4. Vs. neighbors ↓
Written from the data on this page. Home values are the Zillow Home Value Index, through September 2026; permits are Census figures through 2025 (2025 partly estimated); incomes, rents paid, taxes and ownership come from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Atlantic Beach’s grade
Measured against what households in the area earn, Atlantic Beach is more affordable than 1% of U.S. towns. The four inputs sit close together, so no single cost explains the grade.
Values have outpaced New York: the typical Atlantic Beach home is up 44.8% in five years, against 29.7% statewide (Zillow).
Up 44.8% in five years
Faster than New York (29.7%).
Show as a table
| January | Atlantic Beach | New York |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $765,000 | $296,000 |
| 2018 | $785,000 | $314,000 |
| 2019 | $805,000 | $335,000 |
| 2020 | $866,000 | $350,000 |
| 2021 | $916,000 | $376,000 |
| 2022 | $1,064,000 | $414,000 |
| 2023 | $1,213,000 | $434,000 |
| 2024 | $1,263,000 | $455,000 |
| 2025 | $1,348,000 | $486,000 |
| 2026 | $1,430,000 | $506,000 |
| September 2026 | $1,498,000 | $525,000 |
A typical Atlantic Beach home worth $755K in October 2016 is worth about $1.5M today.
Zillow Home Value Index: the typical value of all homes (middle third), smoothed and seasonally adjusted, through September 2026.
A typical home costs 10.1 years of area income
The calculator starts from the area income the grade uses. Switch to Atlantic Beach’s own median, or type yours.
That’s $1.14M short of a typical Atlantic Beach home.
A two-bedroom rents for about $3,060 a month here, $6,730 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, the New York typical property tax (1.55% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $3,060
Renters already here pay a median of $3,501.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Nassau-Suffolk, NY HUD Metro FMR Area): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
1 new home permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 1 new home in Atlantic Beach in 2025. That's 0.7 per 1,000 residents, slower than across New York (1.8). Over the past 10 years, Atlantic Beach has permitted 28 homes in all.
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2025 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $500,000 |
| 2024 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $500,000 |
| 2023 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $1.3 million |
| 2022 | 5 | 5 | 0 | $6.3 million |
| 2021 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $5.1 million |
| 2020 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $3.8 million |
| 2019 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $3.8 million |
| 2018 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $2.5 million |
| 2017 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $3.8 million |
| 2016 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $2.6 million |
| 2015 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2014 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $1.6 million |
| 2013 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2012 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
Atlantic Beach's permit office didn't report to the Census in 2025, so the 2025 figures are Census estimates.
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
High tax bills, but a low tax rate
The median bill is $10,000+ (New York: $6,582), because homes cost more. As a share of value it’s 1.00%+ a year, against 1.55% statewide.
Census American Community Survey 2020–24: the median real-estate tax bill homeowners report, and that bill ÷ the median home value. Bills include town, school and county taxes. The Census reports bills over $10,000 only as “$10,000+”.
The rest of a budget near Atlantic Beach
Only figures published free for the whole country, each labeled with the area it covers: the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area, or New York. Groceries follow the goods price level; nobody publishes them town by town.
| Cost | Here | Compared with | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prices overall U.S. = 100 | 113 | NY 108 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Goods (groceries, clothing, cars…) U.S. = 100 | 110 | NY 107 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Utilities U.S. = 100 | 127 | NY 134 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Other services U.S. = 100 | 106 | NY 104 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Electricity cents per kWh, homes | 29.9¢ | U.S. 18.3¢ | state | EIA, July 2026 |
Price levels: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities 2024 (metro area and state). Electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A.
Atlantic Beach vs. its neighbors
Of the 4 towns here with a Zillow value, Atlantic Beach has the 3rd-lowest. East Atlantic Beach has no Zillow value, so it is in the table only.
Cost next door · one source per column
| Town | Cost | Typical home Zillow, September 2026 | Median value Census 2020–24 | Tax rate bill ÷ value | 2-bed rent HUD 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Beach | D− | $1.5M | $997K | 1.00%+ | $3,060 |
| East Atlantic Beach | – | — | $810K | 1.23%+ | $3,070 |
| Lawrence | D− | $2.3M | $1.6M | 0.62%+ | $2,560 |
| Hempstead | D− | $646K | $641K | 1.56%+ | $2,900 |
| New York City | D− | $826K | $778K | 0.84% | $3,020 |
“+”: the Census reports the tax bill only as $10,000 or more, so the rate is at least that. “—” under Cost: not graded (too little Census data, or under 1,000 residents). “—” under Zillow: Zillow publishes no value for that town, so it’s left blank rather than mixed with Census figures.
Questions about the cost of living in Atlantic Beach
Is Atlantic Beach expensive to live in?
Measured against what households in the area earn, Atlantic Beach costs more than 99% of U.S. towns: a D− for cost of living. The typical home costs 10.1 years of the median household income of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area ($99K).
How much does a house cost in Atlantic Beach?
About $1.5M, Zillow’s typical value for September 2026, up 9.2% in a year. The New York typical home is $525K.
What salary do you need to live in Atlantic Beach?
To buy the typical home with 20% down at 6.3%, about $420,000 a year, keeping the payment (about $9,790 a month with tax and insurance) at 28% of income. To rent a two-bedroom at 30% of income, about $122,000.
How much is rent in Atlantic Beach?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $3,060 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $3,501 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Atlantic Beach?
The median bill is $10,000+ a year, 1.00% of the median home value (New York: $6,582, 1.55%), from the Census 2020–24.
Are home prices in Atlantic Beach going up?
Yes: up 9.2% in the past year and 44.8% in five years, against 29.7% across New York (Zillow).
Neighbors talk housing
What Atlantic Beach buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research, September 2026. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center, April 2026. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer. Regional price levels: BEA; electricity: EIA. How TownRatings grades cost of living.