Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Albany's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Albany?
Your $100,000 in Albany has the same purchasing power as $125,976 in the average US city. You'd need $25,976 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Albany's cost index of 79, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Albany, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously your money goes a lot further here and it's a quieter city by the numbers, plus 2 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Albany's composite cost-of-living index is 79 — roughly 21% under the US baseline. Housing is doing most of the heavy lifting; groceries, utilities, and services are also cheaper than the national norm, just by smaller margins. Median rent in town runs about $889/mo against a typical household income of $43,724, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Albany reports roughly 1,591 crime incidents per 100,000 residents, well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. As always, citywide numbers paper over real differences between neighborhoods — but the broader trend here is on the calmer end of the US distribution.
Albany earns a Walk Score of 57/100 — above the US median, with denser neighborhoods scoring higher than the citywide aggregate suggests. A car is still useful for longer trips, but everyday life works on foot for a lot of residents.
The average one-way commute in Albany is about 20 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
Reasons are pulled from Albany's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Now and then. Albany's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 40°F on average — so most of the precipitation falls as rain. A snowy morning happens a few times a season; sustained accumulation is rare.
Mild on the cold side. Albany's winter average of about 40°F is the kind of weather where you want a jacket but the heating bill is manageable. Snow is rare, frost is occasional, and the lawn never really browns out.
Genuinely hot. Summer in Albany averages about 92°F, and peak afternoons run well over a hundred. Outdoor plans move to mornings and evenings; AC is the most-used appliance in the house.
Approximately USDA Hardiness Zone 9. That's the band gardeners use to pick plants — anything rated for Zone 9 or colder should survive a typical winter in Albany. (The estimate is derived from our winter-temperature data; the official USDA map uses station-level annual minimums and may differ by half a zone.)
Albany sits at about 217 feet (66 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Officially, Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, but most of the action lands between mid-August and mid-October. For Albany, that's when to keep half an eye on the National Hurricane Center forecast cone — and when an actual evacuation plan is worth having in the drawer if you're in a low-lying or coastal neighborhood.
By the numbers, yes. Albany reports roughly 1,591 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. The big caveat applies as always: every city has neighborhoods that look nothing like the citywide average. But the citywide average here is genuinely good.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Albany's composite cost-of-living index is 79, roughly 21% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Somewhat. Albany earns a Walk Score of 57/100 — many daily errands are doable on foot, especially in the denser neighborhoods, but a car still helps for longer trips.
Roughly $55,566 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Albany runs about $889/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.