Best PlacesSaratoga County, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Saratoga 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.
Saratoga County ranks 61st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $110,464, wages outrun the cost of living, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, car insurance costs, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Saratoga 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 Saratoga County
The parts of Saratoga 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.
Burnt Hills & Rexford
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Clifton Park
More households have young kids and fewer homes sit empty.
Saratoga Springs
Biking is better and streets are more walkable.
Ballston Spa
Scores close to Saratoga Springs, except that prices have run up less here.
Gansevoort, South Glens Falls & Fort Edward
Mechanicville, Waterford & Stillwater
Tree cover is thinner and crime runs higher.
Corinth
It is quieter and commutes are shorter.
Greenfield Center, Porter Corners & Hadley
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Scores across Saratoga County run from about the 23rd to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Saratoga County's strengths and weaknesses
Saratoga County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Low crime is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Good schools and health care access follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, car insurance costs, and taxes hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Saratoga County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- School gradeA, better than 99% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of counties
- Household income$110,464 median, better than 95% of counties
Where Saratoga County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,308 a month, better than only 6% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Saratoga County
A household needs to earn about $103,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Saratoga County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $110,464, 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 Saratoga County's effective rate of 1.30%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Saratoga County
Saratoga County 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 Saratoga County.
Who works in Saratoga County, and how
Work in Saratoga County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Saratoga County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Saratoga County.
Is Saratoga County growing, and who is moving in?
Saratoga County has grown about 7% 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 Saratoga County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Saratoga County, month by month
Saratoga County sees roughly 71 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 Saratoga County
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 93 miles away.
The best schools in and around Saratoga County
Schools across Saratoga County average an A, better than 99% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Orenda Elementary SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Chango Elementary SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
- Caroline Street Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Top middle schools
- Acadia Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Gowana Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Iroquois Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Niskayuna High SchoolA+ · 100% proficient
- Saratoga Springs High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Shenendehowa High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Saratoga County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Saratoga 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 Saratoga County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Saratoga County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 92% of counties and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Saratoga County
Is Saratoga County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Saratoga County ranks 61st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, good schools, and health care access, and lowest on childcare costs 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 Saratoga County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $369,078. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $110,464 median income, cost of living beats 92% of counties.
Is Saratoga County safe?
Yes, Saratoga County is safer than 100% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $183 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Saratoga County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 21. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Saratoga County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Burnt Hills & Rexford, Clifton Park, and Saratoga Springs. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Saratoga County good for families?
Schools beat 99% of counties, crime safety beats 100%, and childcare runs $1,308 a month.
Is Saratoga County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 92% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 54% of counties. About 17% of workers already work from home.
Compare Saratoga County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Saratoga County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Saratoga 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.
Saratoga County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Saratoga County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Saratoga County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Saratoga County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Saratoga County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Saratoga 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.