The 10 Best Counties To Live In New York For 2024


The best counties in New York are Saratoga County and Putnam County for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is New York a good place?

The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in New York.

Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Empire State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.

The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of New York, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 62 counties in the state.


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


Saratoga County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in New York. And you should avoid Bronx County if you can — at least according to the data.

Now you know exactly where to move in New York. Keep on reading for more about the top ten and a detailed methodology.

Or, check out the best places to live in New York and the cheapest places to live in New York.


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


The Best Counties To Live In New York For 2024

1. Saratoga County

Ballston Spa, NY

Source: Wikipedia User https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:N-Lange.de | GFDL

Biggest Place: Saratoga Springs
Population: 236,328
Median Income: $97,038 (7th best)
Median Home Price: $390,306 (14th best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.5% (3rd best)
More on Saratoga CountyData

2. Putnam County

Brewster, NY

Source: Wikipedia User Daniel Case | GFDL

Biggest Place: Mahopac
Population: 97,942
Median Income: $120,970 (3rd best)
Median Home Price: $493,819 (9th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.4% (12th best)
More on Putnam CountyData

3. Ontario County

Canandaigua, NY

Source: Wikipedia User Daniel Case | GFDL

Biggest Place: Geneva
Population: 112,288
Median Income: $76,603 (16th best)
Median Home Price: $271,592 (23rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.0% (4th best)
More on Ontario CountyData

4. Nassau County

East Rockaway, NY

Source: Wikipedia User | CC-BY-SA-2.5

Biggest Place: Hempstead
Population: 1,389,160
Median Income: $137,709 (best)
Median Home Price: $714,315 (4th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.6% (15th best)
More on Nassau CountyData

5. Warren County

Glens Falls, NY

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Glens Falls
Population: 65,684
Median Income: $74,531 (19th best)
Median Home Price: $327,645 (17th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.2% (8th best)
More on Warren CountyData

6. Dutchess County

Beacon, NY

Source: Wikipedia User chrisrun | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Poughkeepsie
Population: 296,467
Median Income: $94,578 (9th best)
Median Home Price: $429,920 (11th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.0% (24th best)
More on Dutchess CountyData

7. Madison County

Canastota, NY

Source: Wikipedia User Doug Kerr from Upstate New York | CC BY-SA 2.0

Biggest Place: Oneida
Population: 68,020
Median Income: $68,869 (28th best)
Median Home Price: $211,289 (36th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.1% (5th best)
More on Madison CountyData

8. Rensselaer County

Hoosick Falls, NY

Source: Wikipedia User Daniel Case | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Troy
Population: 160,943
Median Income: $83,734 (11th best)
Median Home Price: $279,598 (2best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.6% (38th best)
More on Rensselaer CountyData

9. Albany County

Albany, NY

Source: Wikipedia User UpstateNYer | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Albany
Population: 315,041
Median Income: $78,829 (14th best)
Median Home Price: $313,647 (19th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.2% (30th best)
More on Albany CountyData

10. Suffolk County

Amityville, NY

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Brentwood
Population: 1,524,486
Median Income: $122,498 (2nd best)
Median Home Price: $607,644 (8th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.8% (20th best)
More on Suffolk CountyData

Methodology: How do you determine which New York county is the best?

To give you the best county in New York, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.

With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.

We paid particular attention to:

  • Violent Crime Rates
  • Property Crime Rates
  • Median Home Values
  • Median Income
  • Unemployment Rates
  • Adult Education Levels
  • Health Insurance Coverage
  • Poverty Rates

We then ranked each county in New York across each of the criteria from one to 62, with one being the best.

Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In New York.”

The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Empire State.

We updated this article for 2024. This report is our tenth time ranking the best counties to live in New York.

Read on to see why Saratoga County is the best county, while Bronx County is probably in contention for being the worst county in New York.

Summary: The Best Counties In New York To Call Home For 2024

Living in New York can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?

The best counties in New York are Saratoga County, Putnam County, Ontario County, Nassau County, Warren County, Dutchess County, Madison County, Rensselaer County, Albany County, and Suffolk County.

But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.

You are welcome.

Here’s a look at the worst counties in New York according to the data:

  1. Bronx County
  2. St. Lawrence County
  3. Cattaraugus County

For more New York reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Counties In New York

Rank County Population Median Income Median Home Price
1 Saratoga County 236,328 $97,038 $390,306
2 Putnam County 97,942 $120,970 $493,819
3 Ontario County 112,288 $76,603 $271,592
4 Nassau County 1,389,160 $137,709 $714,315
5 Warren County 65,684 $74,531 $327,645
6 Dutchess County 296,467 $94,578 $429,920
7 Madison County 68,020 $68,869 $211,289
8 Rensselaer County 160,943 $83,734 $279,598
9 Albany County 315,041 $78,829 $313,647
10 Suffolk County 1,524,486 $122,498 $607,644
11 Columbia County 61,469 $81,741 $422,243
12 Greene County 48,067 $70,294 $336,644
13 Livingston County 61,980 $70,443 $211,930
14 Tompkins County 102,555 $69,995 $317,761
15 Richmond County 492,925 $96,185 $650,502
16 Westchester County 997,904 $114,651 $746,776
17 Erie County 951,232 $68,014 $256,626
18 Genesee County 58,204 $68,178 $194,612
19 Essex County 37,314 $68,090 $260,969
20 Tioga County 48,344 $70,427 $177,880
21 Schenectady County 159,447 $75,056 $258,944
22 Monroe County 756,406 $71,450 $239,223
23 Schoharie County 29,970 $71,479 $220,126
24 Niagara County 212,230 $65,882 $217,209
25 Orange County 401,237 $91,806 $410,511
26 Wayne County 91,324 $71,007 $207,472
27 Ulster County 182,153 $77,197 $388,279
28 Onondaga County 472,637 $71,479 $227,259
29 Rockland County 337,326 $106,173 $649,658
30 Herkimer County 60,293 $68,104 $173,717
31 Clinton County 79,839 $67,097 $200,848
32 Wyoming County 40,338 $65,066 $185,268
33 Oneida County 231,055 $66,402 $199,015
34 Washington County 61,310 $68,703 $228,252
35 Hamilton County 5,090 $66,891 $247,508
36 Otsego County 59,678 $65,778 $198,621
37 Cortland County 46,755 $65,029 $179,439
38 New York County 1,645,867 $99,880 $1,142,512
39 Cayuga County 76,171 $63,227 $197,497
40 Lewis County 26,690 $64,401 $182,868
41 Queens County 2,360,826 $82,431 $676,834
42 Fulton County 53,280 $60,557 $194,587
43 Schuyler County 17,855 $61,316 $219,109
44 Yates County 24,713 $63,974 $274,475
45 Jefferson County 117,445 $62,782 $200,445
46 Delaware County 44,637 $58,338 $228,705
47 Steuben County 93,584 $62,506 $157,783
48 Chenango County 47,096 $61,741 $149,078
49 Kings County 2,679,620 $74,692 $824,504
50 Seneca County 33,651 $64,050 $192,470
51 Sullivan County 78,725 $67,841 $294,329
52 Broome County 198,365 $58,317 $167,286
53 Orleans County 40,148 $61,069 $174,533
54 Oswego County 118,037 $65,054 $173,242
55 Chemung County 83,584 $61,358 $147,320
56 Montgomery County 49,624 $58,033 $184,296
57 Chautauqua County 127,440 $54,625 $158,977
58 Franklin County 47,459 $60,270 $169,515
59 Allegany County 47,222 $58,725 $115,072
60 Cattaraugus County 77,000 $56,889 $144,432
61 St. Lawrence County 108,670 $58,339 $135,118
62 Bronx County 1,443,229 $47,036 $438,247
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.