Best PlacesScotia, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Scotia, 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.
Scotia ranks 5,689th 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 Scotia
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.
Scotia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Scotia ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 94% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of towns
Where Scotia ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% 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 Scotia
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Scotia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,105, 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 Scotia's effective rate of 2.41%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Scotia
Scotia'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 Scotia.
Who works in Scotia, and how
Work in Scotia centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Scotia
Scotia has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of towns and more parkland per resident than 94% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Scotia and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Scotia, month by month
Scotia 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 Scotia
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Scotia
Schools across Scotia average an A−, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Glendaal SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Glen-worden Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Sacandaga SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Schalmont Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Scotia-glenville Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Scotia-glenville Senior High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Schalmont High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Scotia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Scotia 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 Scotia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Scotia
Is Scotia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Scotia ranks 5,689th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and biking, 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 Scotia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,096. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $88,105 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is Scotia safe?
Scotia is safer than 54% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $311 per resident a year.
Compare Scotia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Scotia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Scotia 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.
Scotia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Scotia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Scotia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Scotia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Scotia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Scotia 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.