Best PlacesRensselaer County, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rensselaer County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Rensselaer County ranks 294th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $91,088, everyday costs sit below the national average, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are property taxes, childcare costs, and car insurance costs.
The best neighborhoods in Rensselaer County
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.
The best areas in Rensselaer County
The parts of Rensselaer County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
East Greenbush & Castleton On Hudson
More adults hold degrees, more residents vote, and incomes run higher.
Wynantskill
Local pay stretches further, though fewer households have young kids.
Nassau
Fewer homes sit empty and tree cover is thicker.
Averill Park & Stephentown
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Hoosick Falls & Johnsonville
Streets are more car-dependent and transit reaches fewer jobs.
Schaghticoke
Schools score lower and health outcomes score lower.
Troy & Rensselaer
Crime runs higher and health care is harder to reach.
Rensselaer County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 9% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Rensselaer County's strengths and weaknesses
Rensselaer County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Good schools, transit, and low crime carry most of that.
The one real hole is property taxes, near the bottom of the country. Childcare costs and car insurance costs also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Rensselaer County ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 96% of counties
- TransitBetter than 96% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 91% of counties
Where Rensselaer County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,317 a month, better than only 6% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Rensselaer County
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rensselaer County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,088, 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 Rensselaer County's effective rate of 1.96%, 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 Rensselaer County
Rensselaer County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Rensselaer County.
Who works in Rensselaer County, and how
Work in Rensselaer County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Rensselaer County
Rensselaer County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of counties and more parkland per resident than 80% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Rensselaer County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Rensselaer County growing, and who is moving in?
Rensselaer County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Albany, NY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Rensselaer County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Rensselaer County, month by month
Rensselaer County sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 27° | 18° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Rensselaer County
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rensselaer County
Schools across Rensselaer County average an A−, better than 96% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bell Top SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- West Sand Lake Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Citizen Edmond Genet SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Howard L Goff SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Ichabod Crane Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Algonquin Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Ichabod Crane Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Averill Park High SchoolA+ · 97% proficient
- Columbia High SchoolA+ · 97% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rensselaer County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rensselaer County 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 Rensselaer County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Rensselaer County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of counties and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Rensselaer County
Is Rensselaer County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rensselaer County ranks 294th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, transit, and low crime, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rensselaer County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $258,404. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $91,088 median income, cost of living beats 83% of counties.
Is Rensselaer County safe?
Yes, Rensselaer County is safer than 92% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $249 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Rensselaer County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 18. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 18% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Rensselaer County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are East Greenbush & Castleton On Hudson, Wynantskill, and Nassau. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Rensselaer County good for families?
Schools beat 96% of counties, crime safety beats 92%, and childcare runs $1,317 a month.
Is Rensselaer County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 29% of counties. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare Rensselaer County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rensselaer County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rensselaer County 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.
Rensselaer County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rensselaer County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rensselaer County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rensselaer County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rensselaer County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rensselaer County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.