Metro Life Score
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C-, 11th percentile of the national corpus.
- 39.9
- Life Score / 100
- C-
- Grade (curved)
- #346
- of 387 metros
- 11%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Albany-Schenectady-Troy is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #346 of 387 (39.9/100, grade C-, 11th percentile). Carried by wages at 87/100; held back most by schools at 2/100.
- 11th
- composite percentile
- #346
- of 387 peers
- 24th
- cost dimension percentile
- 87th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · signature composite
Albany-Schenectady-Troy: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Albany-Schenectady-Troy sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#346 of 387, 39.9/100, 10th percentile). Stamps BOTTOM · WAGE-LED; Schools at 2/100 is the main drag; Wages (87/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks DEAR/PEAK. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY ranks #346 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #294 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 99.6 (rent-RPP 102.6). BLS median salary $73,812, 439,210 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Retail Salespersons, Registered Nurses). HUD 2BR FMR $1,702/mo (studio $1,217).
FBI UCR (NY): 380 violent, 1661 property/100K. NCES: 11.4:1 ratio, 7.1% charter. DOL infant childcare $13,869/yr. EPA: 122 Superfund sites (NY).
Where Albany-Schenectady-Troy sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
40 11th percentile higher than 11% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · August 2026
How the 39.9 is built
Albany-Schenectady-Troy's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Albany-Schenectady-Troy scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are NY state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Albany-Schenectady-Troy With...
Ranking Context
Albany-Schenectady-Troy outranks 11% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #343 | Knoxville, TN | 40.0 | C- |
| #344 | Gettysburg, PA | 40.0 | C- |
| #345 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | 40.0 | C- |
| #346 | Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | 39.9 | C- |
| #347 | Stockton-Lodi, CA | 39.9 | C- |
| #348 | Sumter, SC | 39.9 | C- |
| #349 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 39.8 | D |
Quality vs. Affordability
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY's quality rank (bottom 11% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 24% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
NY Metro Scores
Read with Albany-Schenectady-Troy
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Albany-Schenectady-Troy (BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Stockton-Lodi, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 39.9 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/PEAK.
Sumter, SC
ABS(composite) peer at 39.9 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/PEAK.
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
ABS(composite) peer at 40.0 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/PEAK.
Gettysburg, PA
ABS(composite) peer at 40.0 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/PEAK.
Waterbury-Shelton, CT (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 24/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Jacksonville, FL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 24/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Albany-Schenectady-Troy's bottom-third Life Score
Albany-Schenectady-Troy scores 39.9/100 overall, but Wages (87.0) and Schools (1.6) sit 85.5 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Wages is the strongest of Albany-Schenectady-Troy's seven dimensions (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Schools is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Binghamton is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Binghamton
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.