Best Places12866, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 12866, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
12866 ranks 1,878th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 12866
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.
12866's strengths and weaknesses
Where 12866 ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 98% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 12866 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,308 a month, better than only 15% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 25% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 12866
A household needs to earn about $143,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 12866 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $114,782, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 12866's effective rate of 1.15%, 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 12866
12866 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 12866.
Who works in 12866, and how
Work in 12866 centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in 12866
12866 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 76% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 12866 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 12866, month by month
12866 sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 57° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 62° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 12866
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 96 miles away.
The best schools in and around 12866
Schools across 12866 average an A, better than 98% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Caroline Street Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Lake Avenue Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Dorothy Nolan Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gowana Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Maple Avenue Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Ballston Spa Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Saratoga Springs High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Shenendehowa High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Schuylerville High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 12866 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
12866 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 12866 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 12866 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of zip codes and 24% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 12866
Is 12866 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 12866 ranks 1,878th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, health care access, and clean air, and lowest on car insurance costs and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 12866 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $520,386. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $114,782 median income, cost of living beats 77% of zip codes.
Is 12866 safe?
Yes, 12866 is safer than 88% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $225 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 12866?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 21. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 31% of zip codes.
Is 12866 good for families?
Schools beat 98% of zip codes, crime safety beats 88%, and childcare runs $1,308 a month.
Compare 12866 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 12866. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 12866 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.
12866 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 12866: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 12866: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 12866: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 12866: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
12866 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.