Albany, NY
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Albany ranks 83rd for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 72nd for income. A household earns $86,637 a year while median rent runs $1,341/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 0% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is health (13th of 300), while cost of living is the soft spot (211th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 174th and home prices 161st among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Albany, your take-home is worth about $58,045 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 72nd of 300↑18%$86,637
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 211th of 300100 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $87,015
- Per-capita income
- $49,564
- Full-time pay
- $54,912
Housing
- Median rent
- 174th of 300↑28.6%$1,341/mo
- Home value
- 161st of 300↑39.3%$316,300
- Property tax
- $5,041/yr · 1.6%
- Sales tax
- 8.53%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 63rd of 3003.5%
- Bachelor's+
- 34th of 30044.4%
- Avg commute
- 133rd of 30023.7 min
People
- Population
- 913,485
- Population change
- +3.8%
- Median age
- 40.4 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 8.7%
- Broadband
- 93%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 29th of 30037
- Natural-hazard loss
- 54th of 300$9/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 13th of 30014.3%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 5.7%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Job market
- + Education
- + Air quality
- + Hazard safety
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — albany intl ap.
What jobs pay in Albany
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $236,090
- IT managers
- $158,250
- Financial managers
- $150,590
- Pharmacists
- $136,720
- Lawyers
- $131,310
- Software developers
- $127,910
- General & operations managers
- $111,130
- Civil engineers
- $102,470
- Registered nurses
- $99,970
- Web developers
- $85,070
- Accountants & auditors
- $84,660
- Secondary school teachers
- $80,620
- Elementary school teachers
- $79,240
- Police officers
- $78,240
- Plumbers
- $77,460
- Electricians
- $74,890
- Carpenters
- $60,720
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $60,720
- Construction laborers
- $52,940
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $49,490
- Waiters & waitresses
- $48,980
- Customer service reps
- $45,350
- Janitors
- $37,810
- Retail salespersons
- $35,420
- Cashiers
- $34,290
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Albany metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in New York are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Massachusetts1,971
- New Jersey1,266
- California1,243
- Florida1,136
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Albany
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Albany metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Albany metro?
- Median gross rent across the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metro Area is $1,341 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Albany.
- What is the median household income in the Albany metro?
- A typical household in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metro Area earns $86,637 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Albany expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metro Area runs about 0% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Albany metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $87,015 (versus its face value of $86,637). CityLedger rates the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Albany metro?
- The median home value across the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metro Area is $316,300 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Albany metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metro Area is 3.5% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).