Best PlacesScotch Bush, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Scotch Bush, 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.
Scotch Bush ranks 9,020th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Scotch Bush
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.
Scotch Bush's strengths and weaknesses
Where Scotch Bush ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 88% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of towns
Where Scotch Bush ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,172 a month, better than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Scotch Bush
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Scotch Bush home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $101,715, 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 Scotch Bush's effective rate of 1.75%, 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 Scotch Bush
Scotch Bush runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Scotch Bush.
Who works in Scotch Bush, and how
Work in Scotch Bush centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Scotch Bush
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Scotch Bush.
What the weather is like in Scotch Bush, month by month
Scotch Bush sees roughly 81 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 Scotch Bush
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 99 miles away.
The best schools in and around Scotch Bush
Schools across Scotch Bush average a B+, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Duanesburg Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- William H Barkley MicrosocietyB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Schalmont Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Wilbur H Lynch Literacy AcademyF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Schalmont High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Amsterdam High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Scotch Bush school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Scotch Bush 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 Scotch Bush against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Scotch Bush
Is Scotch Bush a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Scotch Bush ranks 9,020th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, low disaster risk, 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 Scotch Bush expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $285,944. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $101,715 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Scotch Bush safe?
Yes, Scotch Bush is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $199 per resident a year.
Compare Scotch Bush with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Scotch Bush. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Scotch Bush 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.
Scotch Bush detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Scotch Bush: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Scotch Bush: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Scotch Bush: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Scotch Bush: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Scotch Bush 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.