Best PlacesBallston Spa, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ballston Spa, 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.
Ballston Spa ranks 390th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ballston Spa
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.
Ballston Spa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ballston Spa ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of cities
- School gradeA, better than 95% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 95% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of cities
Where Ballston Spa ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 23% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 25% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Ballston Spa
A household needs to earn about $94,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ballston Spa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $115,758, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Ballston Spa's effective rate of 1.26%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ballston Spa
Ballston Spa 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 Ballston Spa.
Who works in Ballston Spa, and how
Work in Ballston Spa centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Ballston Spa
Ballston Spa has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of cities and more parkland per resident than 85% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ballston Spa and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ballston Spa, month by month
Ballston Spa sees roughly 74 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 Ballston Spa
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ballston Spa
Schools across Ballston Spa average an A, better than 95% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Caroline Street Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Charlton Heights Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Francis L Stevens Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gowana Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Maple Avenue Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Richard H O'rourke Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Saratoga Springs High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Shenendehowa High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Burnt Hills-ballston Lake Senior High SchoolA+ · 97% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ballston Spa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ballston Spa 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 Ballston Spa against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Ballston Spa suits
Common questions about living in Ballston Spa
Is Ballston Spa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ballston Spa ranks 390th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, good schools, and tree cover, and lowest on cell coverage and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ballston Spa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $338,381. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $115,758 median income, cost of living beats 69% of cities.
Is Ballston Spa safe?
Yes, Ballston Spa is safer than 98% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $164 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ballston Spa?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 21. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 35% of cities.
Is Ballston Spa good for families?
Schools beat 95% of cities, crime safety beats 98%, and childcare runs $1,308 a month.
Compare Ballston Spa with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ballston Spa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ballston Spa 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.
Ballston Spa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ballston Spa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ballston Spa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ballston Spa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ballston Spa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ballston Spa 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.