Best PlacesRotterdam, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rotterdam, 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.
Rotterdam ranks 5,651st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rotterdam
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.
Rotterdam's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rotterdam ranks high
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 95% of towns
Where Rotterdam ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,317 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rotterdam
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rotterdam home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,508, 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 Rotterdam's effective rate of 2.05%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rotterdam
Rotterdam'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 Rotterdam.
Who works in Rotterdam, and how
Work in Rotterdam centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Rotterdam
Rotterdam has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Rotterdam and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Rotterdam, month by month
Rotterdam 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 Rotterdam
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 87 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rotterdam
Schools across Rotterdam average an A−, better than 91% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pinewood Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
Top middle schools
- Schalmont Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Draper Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Mohonasen Senior High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Schalmont High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rotterdam school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rotterdam 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 Rotterdam against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Rotterdam suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Rotterdam
Is Rotterdam a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rotterdam ranks 5,651st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, fast internet, and cell coverage, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rotterdam expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $216,441. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $87,508 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Rotterdam safe?
Yes, Rotterdam is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $289 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Rotterdam?
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 36% of towns.
Is Rotterdam good for families?
Schools beat 91% of towns, crime safety beats 59%, and childcare runs $1,317 a month.
Compare Rotterdam with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rotterdam. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rotterdam 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.
Rotterdam detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rotterdam: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rotterdam: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rotterdam: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rotterdam: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rotterdam 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.