Best Places12106, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 12106, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
12106 ranks 8,862nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 12106
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
12106's strengths and weaknesses
Where 12106 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 94% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 85% of zip codes
Where 12106 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,317 a month, better than only 14% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 12106
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 12106 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $72,837; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 12106's effective rate of 1.36%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 12106
12106 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 12106.
Who works in 12106, and how
Work in 12106 centers on public administration and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 12106
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 12106.
What the weather is like in 12106, month by month
12106 sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 12106
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around 12106
Schools across 12106 average an A, better than 94% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Ichabod Crane Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Mary E Dardess Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chatham Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Ichabod Crane Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Ichabod Crane Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Chatham High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 12106 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
12106 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 12106 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 12106
Is 12106 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 12106 ranks 8,862nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, good schools, and low crime, and lowest on an overheated housing market and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 12106 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $277,698. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $72,837 median income, cost of living beats 42% of zip codes.
Is 12106 safe?
Yes, 12106 is safer than 91% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $181 per resident a year.
Compare 12106 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 12106. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 12106 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
12106 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 12106: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 12106: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 12106: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 12106: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
12106 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.