Living in White Plains, NY

Westchester County

White Plains is the Westchester County seat and a genuine, real regional corporate/retail hub in its own right -- a dual identity this record documents precisely rather than conflating. The city's resident population runs approximately 60,666-61,731, but its real daytime population swells to approximately 150,000 as commuters, shoppers, and court/government visitors arrive from across the region. Verified precisely via WebSearch: White Plains does NOT levy its own local income tax (unlike Yonkers, documented in yonkers.js), following New York's usual pattern -- but it DOES levy a real, distinctive 2.5% local sales-tax component, for a combined 8.375% rate. Corporate anchors run genuinely real and current: the New York Power Authority's new 350,000+ sq ft headquarters at Hamilton Green (retaining ~1,000 jobs), Jackson Lewis P.C.'s national law-firm headquarters, and New York Life Insurance's major office, alongside White Plains Hospital (the city's single largest employer at ~2,800 workers). Housing runs genuinely expensive with an extreme intra-city range (Downtown ~$862,500 vs. Eastview ~$299,450 in one late-2025 citation), and the city's own effective property tax rate (~1.97%) runs above even the New York statewide median.

Explore White Plains in depth

• Moving to White Plains: Pros, Cons & What to Know
• Cost of Living in White Plains
• Housing Market in White Plains
• Buying a Home in White Plains
• Renting in White Plains
• Taxes in White Plains
• Homeowners Insurance & Natural Hazard Costs in White Plains
• Climate & Weather in White Plains
• Jobs & Economy in White Plains
• Schools in White Plains
• Crime & Safety in White Plains
• Healthcare in White Plains
• Traffic & Transportation in White Plains
• Best Areas to Live in White Plains
• Pros and Cons of Living in White Plains
• Retiring in White Plains
• Who Should / Shouldn’t Move to White Plains

Housing

Taxes

The tradeoffs

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits professionals and families who want genuine county-seat/corporate-hub amenities, direct Metro-North access to Manhattan, and no separate local income-tax layer, and who have the budget for the city's genuinely elevated property tax rate and its priciest downtown-adjacent neighborhoods.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the best fit for buyers assuming a single citywide home-price figure applies uniformly -- White Plains' real, extreme intra-city price range (documented above) means a specific-neighborhood budget should be confirmed directly before committing to the city generally.