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 places are a little too far downwind of Albany in terms of quality of life.
$47,237 median income · $195,222 median home price
We’ll get the ball rolling with Greenville, the absolute worst place to live around Albany according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Greenville beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the worst in the Albany area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 3rd 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 Greenville.
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.
$56,178 median income · $235,742 median home price
Located in
Montgomery County, New York
Welcome to Amsterdam. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 27.5 miles to Albany. Income levels here are the 6th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $56,178 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.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$59,406 median income · $165,710 median home price
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Albany suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Green Island 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.
$54,139 median income · $436,090 median home price
Located in
Columbia County, New York
If you live in Hudson, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 4th 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.
Hudson is about 28.6 miles to downtown.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$54,577 median income · $220,578 median home price
Milton has the distinction of being a Albany suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Milton has the 4th lowest home values in the metro Albany area, where the median price is $220,578. The median income is $111,172.
Milton has an unemployment rate of 5.3% which ranks 8th worst.
$58,399 median income · $318,449 median home price
Located in
Schenectady County, New York
Schenectady has 68,847 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 23.8%.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$58,477 median income · $286,799 median home price
Located in
Rensselaer County, New York
Ah, Troy. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Albany.
It’s the place with the 2nd most out of work residents in the Albany metro area (9.1%).
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$48,214 median income · $221,164 median home price
Hoosick Falls is a city about 27.9 miles from Albany, but Albany probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Hoosick Falls has the 8th most uninsured people, 2nd worst incomes, and has the 19th highest unemployment rate (2.1%) in the entire Albany metro area.
Homes only cost $221,164 for a reason. That’s cheap for Albany standards.
Data | Movers
$50,675 median income · $483,740 median home price
If you absolutely have to live near Albany, then Mechanicville might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Albany suburb.
About 3.3% of residents are out of work.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$70,080 median income · $306,690 median home price
Located in
Rensselaer County, New York
Rounding out the ten worst Albany suburbs to call home is Rensselaer.
Located 3.6 miles outside the city, Rensselaer is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 9th highest unemployment rate (4.6%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is New York’s statewide median.
New York statewide median: $85,974
New York statewide median: $507,794
New York statewide median: 6.4%
New York statewide median: 14.0%
On the map
Where the worst Albany suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Albany for 2026
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 2020-2024, 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, Greenville.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around Albany.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst Albany Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greenville | 5.79 | 12,741 | $47,237 | $195,222 |
| 2 | Amsterdam | 6.36 | 18,166 | $56,178 | $235,742 |
| 3 | Green Island | 6.93 | 2,970 | $59,406 | $165,710 |
| 4 | Hudson | 7.14 | 5,865 | $54,139 | $436,090 |
| 5 | Milton | 7.21 | 6,534 | $54,577 | $220,578 |
| 6 | Schenectady | 7.36 | 68,847 | $58,399 | $318,449 |
| 7 | Troy | 8.00 | 51,033 | $58,477 | $286,799 |
| 8 | Hoosick Falls | 9.57 | 3,177 | $48,214 | $221,164 |
| 9 | Mechanicville | 9.79 | 5,124 | $50,675 | $483,740 |
| 10 | Rensselaer | 9.93 | 9,287 | $70,080 | $306,690 |
| 11 | Cohoes | 10.50 | 18,159 | $61,145 | $330,326 |
| 12 | Coxsackie | 10.86 | 2,737 | $70,500 | $359,817 |
| 13 | Watervliet | 11.14 | 10,287 | $57,919 | $308,697 |
| 14 | Ravena | 12.93 | 3,243 | $77,217 | $284,407 |
| 15 | Waterford | 13.79 | 2,085 | $72,938 | $188,715 |
| 16 | Menands | 14.14 | 4,505 | $80,583 | $397,064 |
| 17 | Colonie | 14.93 | 7,702 | $103,983 | $341,964 |
| 18 | Saratoga Springs | 15.64 | 28,631 | $105,944 | $633,902 |
| 19 | Scotia | 15.86 | 7,264 | $76,525 | $249,645 |
| 20 | Voorheesville | 16.14 | 2,824 | $111,172 | $419,468 |
| 21 | Ballston Spa | 17.00 | 5,027 | $101,667 | $422,527 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 21 suburbs within 30 miles of Albany.
Summary
Summary: The areas around Albany where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Albany with Greenville casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Albany are Greenville, Amsterdam, Green Island, Hudson, Milton, Schenectady, Troy, Hoosick Falls, Mechanicville, and Rensselaer.
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. Not sold on New York? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Suburbs Of Albany FAQs
What is the worst suburb of Albany?
Greenville ranks as the worst suburb around Albany for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Amsterdam and Green Island are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of Albany?
The worst-ranked suburbs around Albany are Greenville, Amsterdam, Green Island, Hudson, Milton, Schenectady, Troy, Hoosick Falls, Mechanicville, and Rensselaer. We scored all 21 places within 30 miles.
Why does Greenville rank as the worst suburb?
Greenville posts the roughest combined numbers of the 21 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $47,237, a median home value of $195,222, and a poverty rate of 14.2%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near Albany?
Ballston Spa lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near Albany by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of Albany list covers that side properly.
How do you rank the worst suburbs?
Suburbs are scored on unemployment, income, density, home values, dropouts, poverty, and insurance coverage, using Census American Community Survey data. Real numbers, light heart — every one of these towns has people making it work.
