The 10 Worst Albany Suburbs


The worst Albany suburbs are Green Island and Greenville based on Saturday Night Science. Find out where your town ranks.

More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Albany to avoid all the hustle and bustle.

So the question arises: what suburbs of Albany are the worst?

Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Albany ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Albany area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Albany proper, although Ballston Spa certainly tries.

We examined the 21 biggest suburbs of Albany to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in New York lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Albany in terms of quality of life.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 worst suburbs around Albany for 2024

  1. Green Island
  2. Greenville
  3. Amsterdam
  4. Schenectady
  5. Hudson
  6. Troy
  7. Milton
  8. Ravena
  9. Coxsackie
  10. Watervliet

Now don’t freak out.

What’s the worst suburb of Albany? Green Island ranks as the worst suburb of Albany for 2024 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.

Or, if you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in New York check out the best places in New York overall or the worst.

And remember, there are some good places to live around Albany too.

The 10 Worst Albany Suburbs To Live For 2024

1. Green Island

Green Island, NY

Source: Wikipedia User Dougtone (Doug Kerr) on Flickr.com | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,968
Median Income: $64,018 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 13.0% (highest)
Median Home Value: $178,351 (2nd lowest)
More on Green Island:

We’ll get the ball rolling with Green Island, the absolute worst place to live around Albany according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Green Island beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 12th worst in the Albany area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 2nd worst when it comes to home values.

But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Green Island.

You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.

2. Greenville

Greenville Location In Ohio

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 12,768
Median Income: $45,746 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.0% (12th highest)
Median Home Value: $150,215 (lowest)
More on Greenville:

Welcome to Greenville. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.

This city is 20.7 miles to Albany. Income levels here are the 2nd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $45,746 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.

But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.

Amsterdam, NY

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 18,244
Median Income: $46,338 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.2% (5th highest)
Median Home Value: $215,922 (7th lowest)
More on Amsterdam: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Back up the highway we go for the third worst Albany suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Amsterdam on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.

In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other Albany suburbs.

But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.

Schenectady, NY

Source: Wikipedia User Daniel Case | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 68,476
Median Income: $54,650 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.4% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $274,585 (13th lowest)
More on Schenectady: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

If you live in Schenectady, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 7th lowest Albany suburb for median household incomes.

Not only that, but this is the 4th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Albany. Remember, we looked at 21 cities for this study.

Schenectady is about 11.4 miles to downtown.

Hudson, NY

Source: Wikipedia User Daniel Case | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,923
Median Income: $46,293 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 12.8% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $389,385 (19th lowest)
More on Hudson: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Hudson has the distinction of being a Albany suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Hudson has the 19th lowest home values in the metro Albany area, where the median price is $389,385. The median income is $102,885.

Hudson has an unemployment rate of 12.84% which ranks 2nd worst.

Troy, NY

Source: Wikipedia User | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 51,268
Median Income: $54,837 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.7% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $253,552 (8th lowest)
More on Troy: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Troy has 51,268 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)

Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 23.29523564915885%.

7. Milton

Milton Location In Pennsylvania

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 6,610
Median Income: $50,431 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.0% (8th highest)
Median Home Value: $197,505 (5th lowest)
More on Milton:

Ah, Milton. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Albany.

It’s the place with the 8th most out of work residents in the Albany metro area (7.0%).

8. Ravena

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,259
Median Income: $68,873 (16th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 2.9% (15th highest)
Median Home Value: $256,507 (9th lowest)
More on Ravena:

Ravena is a city about 13.1 miles from Albany, but Albany probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Ravena has the 4th most uninsured people, 16th worst incomes, and has the 15th highest unemployment rate (2.87%) in the entire Albany metro area.

Homes only cost $256,507 for a reason. That’s cheap for Albany standards.

9. Coxsackie

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,766
Median Income: $62,857 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.9% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $273,299 (12th lowest)
More on Coxsackie: Crime

If you absolutely have to live near Albany, then Coxsackie might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Albany suburb.

About 7.94% of residents are out of work.

Watervliet, NY

Source: Wikipedia User UpstateNYer | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 10,325
Median Income: $51,092 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.7% (10th highest)
Median Home Value: $265,978 (10th lowest)
More on Watervliet: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Rounding out the ten worst Albany suburbs to call home is Watervliet.

Located 6.2 miles outside the city, Watervliets is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 10th highest unemployment rate (4.71%), and poverty is far above the area average.

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Albany for 2024

To figure out how bad a Albany suburb is to live in, we used Saturday Night Science to identify the kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.

Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2018-2022, this is the criteria we used:

  • High unemployment rate
  • Low median household incomes
  • Low population density (no things to do)
  • Low home values
  • A lot of high school dropouts
  • High poverty
  • High rate of uninsured families

We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of Albany.

We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 21 suburbs to evaluate around Albany.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 21 in each category, where 1 was the “worst.”

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.

And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index, the “Worst Suburb near Albany.” We’re looking at you, Green Island.

We updated this article for 2024, which reflects our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Albany.

Summary: The areas around Albany where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2024

Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Albany with Green Island casting itself ahead of the pack.

The worst suburbs of Albany are .

As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Albany aren’t all bad. Ballston Spa takes the cake as the best place to live around Albany.

  • Ballston Spa
  • Scotia
  • Voorheesville

For more New York reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst Albany Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 Green Island 2,968 $64,018 $178,351
2 Greenville 12,768 $45,746 $150,215
3 Amsterdam 18,244 $46,338 $215,922
4 Schenectady 68,476 $54,650 $274,585
5 Hudson 5,923 $46,293 $389,385
6 Troy 51,268 $54,837 $253,552
7 Milton 6,610 $50,431 $197,505
8 Ravena 3,259 $68,873 $256,507
9 Coxsackie 2,766 $62,857 $273,299
10 Watervliet 10,325 $51,092 $265,978
11 Hoosick Falls 3,225 $63,811 $191,884
12 Cohoes 17,960 $62,679 $286,531
13 Mechanicville 5,177 $45,686 $401,291
14 Rensselaer 9,252 $68,284 $267,993
15 Menands 4,512 $73,000 $340,496
16 Waterford 2,113 $65,923 $190,131
17 Saratoga Springs 28,505 $97,241 $532,060
18 Colonie 7,767 $100,093 $292,148
19 Voorheesville 2,840 $102,885 $362,407
20 Scotia 7,292 $66,736 $214,828
21 Ballston Spa 5,288 $78,136 $364,302
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.

2 thoughts on “The 10 Worst Albany Suburbs

  1. Must agree on many but Hampton Manor is literally just a small part of East Greenbush. It is a section or neighbor section. In fact there are about what I can say as maybe 5 businesses in Hampton Manor!!

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