Albany composite
54.3 /100
Grade B · weighted across 7 dims
Metro comparison
Albany vs Albany
Albany, GA and Albany, OR side by side, cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare and environment, all from the same federal datasets so every number is directly comparable.
- 54.3
- Albany Life Score
- B
- Albany grade
- 36.9
- Albany Life Score
- D
- Albany grade
Head-to-head verdict
Across the seven dimensions, Albany scores higher on 4 (cost of living, rent, safety, childcare) and Albany on 3 (wages, schools, environment). The radar shows the full shape; the tables below break out every figure.
Albany vs Albany across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall)
Where each metro wins, and by how much
Every dimension is a national percentile (0–100). Each bar leans toward the stronger metro, a long lean is a decisive edge, a near-even split is a toss-up. The radar shows the overall shape; this shows the per-dimension margins.
◖ Albany Albany ◗
cost of living
89
15
wages
18
63
rent
76
31
safety
56
45
schools
31
74
childcare
98
26
environment
1
1
Albany and Albany differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Albany has a cost-of-living index of 87.7 vs Albany's 102.1 (national average = 100). A 2-bedroom averages $1,129/mo vs $1,500/mo.
How to read this matchup
Reading the Albany vs Albany Comparison
Albany (GA) and Albany (OR) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline, BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators, so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 87.7 for Albany against 102.1 for Albany, a 14.4-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent, the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards, is $1,129/mo in Albany and $1,500/mo in Albany, a $371/mo difference that compounds to $4,452 over a year.
Wage data is reported by metro delineation, and one of these metros is missing a BLS record for the latest OES cycle; the salary columns below fall back to available years. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 299.6 per 100,000 residents in GA vs 334.6 in OR, with property-crime rates of 1567.1 and 2409.8 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: GA lists 2,315 public schools at a 14.5:1 student-teacher ratio, while OR lists 1,277 schools at 18.2:1, a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. Department of Labor center-based infant care runs $6,591/yr in the Albany area versus $12,639/yr in Albany - a line item that shifts the real cost-of-living picture for households with children under five far more than headline RPP does. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Albany and Albany are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" - they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.
Albany composite
36.9 /100
Grade D · weighted across 7 dims
Cost-of-living gap
-14.4 pts
Albany vs Albany BEA RPP
2-bed rent delta
$371 /mo
Albany priced higher
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Albany
Albany composite (Grade B)
Albany
Albany composite (Grade D)
Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.
💰 Cost of Living BEA →
| Category | Albany | Albany |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 87.7 | 102.1 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 105.3 |
| Services | 88.3 | 104.8 |
| Rents | 54.6 | 101.1 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in Albany gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Albany?
$
Equivalent in Albany:
$116,461
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Albany: 87.7, Albany: 102.1, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) HUD →
| Bedrooms | Albany | Albany |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $966/mo | $1,034/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $1,006/mo | $1,236/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $1,129/mo | $1,500/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $1,534/mo | $2,030/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $1,858/mo | $2,356/mo |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) FBI →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Albany (GA) | Albany (OR) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 299.6 | 334.6 |
| Property Crime | 1567.1 | 2409.8 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) NCES →
| Metric | GA | OR |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 2,315 | 1,277 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 14.5:1 | 18.2:1 |
| Charter Schools | 4.2% | 10.1% |
👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) DOL →
| Age Group | GA | OR |
|---|---|---|
| Infant (Center) | $6,591/yr | $12,639/yr |
| Toddler (Center) | $6,153/yr | $11,605/yr |
| Preschool (Center) | $6,034/yr | $9,385/yr |
🌿 Environment (state-level) EPA →
| Metric | GA | OR |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 867 | 335 |
| Water Systems | 1,715 | 938 |
| Superfund Sites | 23 | 21 |
| Water Violations | 2,663 | 2,578 |
Government-verified data — Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.
💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) EPA AQS →
| Metric | Albany | Albany |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 45.0 | 25.0 |
| Good Air Days | 62.0% | 87.4% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 4 days | 0 days |
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) EPA SDWIS →
| Metric | GA | OR |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 10/100 | 2/100 |
| Total Violations | 108,966 | 206,659 |
| Health-Based Violations | 12,032 | 20,339 |
| Systems with Violations | 92.1% | 98.5% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) HRSA →
| Metric | GA | OR |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 39/100 | 0/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 61.1% | 100.0% |
| HPSA Designations | 370 | 403 |
HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.
⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) FEMA NRI →
| Metric | GA | OR |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 77/100 | 45/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 39.5 | 63.4 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 37.6 | 63.5 |
FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.
Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Albany more expensive than Albany? ▼
Albany has a cost of living index of 87.7 compared to Albany's 102.1 (national average = 100). Albany is 14.4 points above Albany on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Albany and Albany? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,129/mo in Albany vs $1,500/mo in Albany, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $966/mo to $1,034/mo.
How do salaries compare between Albany and Albany? ▼
Wage data is not available for one or both metros.
Is Albany or Albany safer? ▼
At the state level, GA has a violent crime rate of 299.6 per 100,000 residents compared to OR's 334.6 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 1567.1 vs 2409.8 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Albany and Albany? ▼
GA has 2,315 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 14.5:1, while OR has 1,277 schools at 18.2:1. Charter schools make up 4.2% of GA schools vs 10.1% in OR. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from? ▼
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.
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Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.
Related
Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets, current as of 2026. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial