Best PlacesLost Valley, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lost Valley, 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.
Lost Valley ranks 11,316th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lost Valley
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.
Lost Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lost Valley ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 86% of towns
Where Lost Valley ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lost Valley
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lost Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,890, 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 Lost Valley's effective rate of 1.83%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lost Valley
Lost Valley's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lost Valley.
Who works in Lost Valley, and how
Work in Lost Valley centers on construction and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Lost Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lost Valley.
What the weather is like in Lost Valley, month by month
Lost Valley sees roughly 79 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 Lost Valley
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lost Valley
Schools across Lost Valley average a B+, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fonda-fultonville K-4 SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Duanesburg Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- William H Barkley MicrosocietyB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fonda-fultonville 5-8 SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Wilbur H Lynch Literacy AcademyF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Fonda-fultonville Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Amsterdam High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Duanesburg High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lost Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lost Valley 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 Lost Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lost Valley
Is Lost Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lost Valley ranks 11,316th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, clean air, and heat safety, and lowest on property taxes and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lost Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $244,046. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $86,890 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Lost Valley safe?
Yes, Lost Valley is safer than 93% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $166 per resident a year.
Compare Lost Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lost Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lost Valley 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.
Lost Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lost Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lost Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lost Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lost Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lost Valley 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.