Best PlacesCharlton, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Charlton, 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.
Charlton ranks 1,550th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Charlton
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.
Charlton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Charlton ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
Where Charlton ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,309 a month, better than only 9% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Short commute34.2 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Charlton
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Charlton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $106,969, 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 Charlton's effective rate of 1.44%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Charlton
Charlton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Charlton.
Who works in Charlton, and how
Work in Charlton centers on construction and other services. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Charlton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Charlton.
What the weather is like in Charlton, month by month
Charlton 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 Charlton
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Charlton
Schools across Charlton average an A, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Charlton Heights Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Glendaal SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Richard H O'rourke Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Scotia-glenville Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Burnt Hills-ballston Lake Senior High SchoolA+ · 97% proficient
- Scotia-glenville Senior High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Charlton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Charlton 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 Charlton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Charlton
Is Charlton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Charlton ranks 1,550th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, few empty homes, and good schools, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Charlton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $347,000. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $106,969 median income, cost of living beats 82% of towns.
Is Charlton safe?
Yes, Charlton is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $136 per resident a year.
Compare Charlton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Charlton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Charlton 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.
Charlton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Charlton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Charlton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Charlton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Charlton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Charlton 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.