The quality of life in a community comes from a wide variety of factors, and in this section of the Westchester Index we report on key areas including voter participation, safety, and transportation.

For voter registration and participation in elections, Westchester residents’ rates are equal or slightly better than statewide rates, but below rates of comparison counties. In 2024, 88% of Westchester County’s voting-age population was registered to vote and 58% of Westchester County’s eligible voters voted in the Presidential election (which typically attract more participation than midterm election years). The voter registration rate in Westchester in 2024 was the highest since 2016 when it was 87%.

Westchester’s serious crime rate was slightly below the state and nation, at 111 serious crimes reported per 10,000 residents in 2024. While serious crimes in Westchester County decreased slightly from 2023, rates have declined 31% since 2010, greater than the 8% decline statewide over the same period. In 2024, there were 26 victims of domestic violence per 10,000 residents in Westchester County, an 8% decrease from 2014.

The county had a large racial disparity in arrest rates, with arrests of African Americans nearly 7 times as high as that of Whites in 2024. For every 10,000 African Americans in the County, 34 were arrested, compared to rates of 19 among Hispanics, 5 for Whites and 2 for Asians.

In 2020-24, nearly 53,200 (14%) of households in Westchester County did not have access to a vehicle. White residents of the county were most likely to drive alone to work (68%), versus using public transportation (19%), carpooling (7%), or using another form of transportation, such as motorcycles, bicycles, taxis or walking (5%). In comparison, African Americans (26%) and Asians and Hispanics (both 22%) had higher levels of public transportation use.