Top of the Heap: Albany Ranked #1 Place to Live in New York

In a recent survey by U.S. News and World Report, Albany ranked as the #1 place to live in New York in a poll "intended to help readers make the most informed decision when choosing where to settle down."

Albany, Really?

For all the eye-rolls and raised eyebrows that a post like this will likely bring, as an Albany kid, these are the kinds of things I truly enjoy writing about. Sure, living in Albany means putting up with year-round fireworks and police sirens but it also offers a ton more. And when you take a look at Albany from 30,000 feet away, it's easy to see why the state capital was recently ranked so highly by the legit source. Sometimes as they say, you can't see the forest from the trees.

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The Data

U.S. News did a deep dive into of the best metro areas in the United States to "find the best places to live based on quality of life and the job market in each metro area, as well as the value of living there and people's desire to live there." In that report, Albany ranked 45th in the nation. But on a much more local level, the home to the Empire, US Great Danes, state workers and Governor Cuomo ranked #1.

The Scores

Based upon a score of 1-10, the 5 different criteria they judged us on were desirability (5.9), value (7.3), job market (7.2), quality of life (6.8) and net migration (5.8), Albany had an overall average score of 6.7, the highest in the state.

Best of the Rest

To see the complete list of national rankings, and state rankings click here.

LOOK: Here is the richest town in each state

Just saying the names of these towns immediately conjures up images of grand mansions, luxury cars, and ritzy restaurants. Read on to see which town in your home state took the title of the richest location and which place had the highest median income in the country. Who knows—your hometown might even be on this list.

READ ON: See the States Where People Live the Longest

Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.