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Place dossier plate
SheetNY-NISKAYUNA-NY · Niskayuna, NY 20,774 pop · income 90th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Niskayuna
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Niskayuna on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Hammond · lowest
41,222
Hammond · lowest
41,222 median HH income
22.5% of the leader · rank #1
Moss Beach · near
128,333
Moss Beach · near
128,333 median HH income
70.0% of the leader · rank #2
Bondurant · near
128,341
Bondurant · near
128,341 median HH income
70.0% of the leader · rank #3
Niskayuna · this city
128,346
Niskayuna · this city
128,346 median HH income
70.0% of the leader · rank #4
Greenville · near
128,348
Greenville · near
128,348 median HH income
70.0% of the leader · rank #5
Stanford · near
128,356
Stanford · near
128,356 median HH income
70.0% of the leader · rank #6
North Bellmore · highest
183,250
North Bellmore · highest
183,250 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Niskayuna on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 20,774.
Niskayuna ranks in the 90th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
90th
percentile, household income
69th
percentile, home value
78th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Niskayuna, NY
20,774 people live in Niskayuna, New York - a small city by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Niskayuna households earn a median of $128,346 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 1.3%. Niskayuna's housing stock carries a median value of $326,600, and the median resident age is 42.3 years. 65.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 62.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
New York carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 107.9 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,579 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $285 across New York, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 69.4 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Niskayuna's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Niskayuna, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Niskayuna?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 72.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
How far does income reach against housing in Niskayuna?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 1.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Niskayuna?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Within New York, the closest population matches are Hauppauge (20,772 residents, $145,987 income); North Bellmore (20,776 residents, $183,250 income); West Hempstead (20,762 residents, $160,280 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are North Liberty, IA (20,782 residents); Louisville, CO (20,788 residents); Hammond, LA (20,790 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share A+
65.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate A+
1.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income A+
$128,346
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Cost of living F
107.9 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Niskayuna profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 95/100 (A+) · 65.7%
Poverty rate: 91/100 (A+) · 1.3%
Household income: 90/100 (A+) · $128,346
Cost of living: 12/100 (F) · 107.9 index
How does Niskayuna compare to other US cities?
Here's how Niskayuna stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income90% higher than other cities
Home value69% pricier than other cities
Median rent78% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Niskayuna against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to New York only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
New York-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Niskayuna near the bottom of New York's cities
Among the 1,256 New York cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Niskayuna ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Niskayuna only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#277 of 1,205
77th percentile in New York
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,256
0th percentile in New York
Median Home Value
#462 of 1,202
61st percentile in New York
Poverty Rate
#964 of 1,246
22nd percentile in New York
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#138 of 1,254
89th percentile in New York
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within New York only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
90th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Niskayuna's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$326,60031st percentilemore affordable than 31% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. 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 U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Niskayuna's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#4,225 of 15,516
More affordable than 73% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#389 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.5×, Niskayuna sits in the affordable band:
national rank #4,225 of 15,516 and #389 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$128,346Niskayuna, NY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Niskayuna, NY median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Niskayuna, NY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)65.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)62.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
20,774
Median Income
$128,346
Median Home Value
$326,600
Median Age
42.3
Poverty Rate
1.3%
Labor force participation
62.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
65.7%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
72.2%
Carpool
6.1%
Public Transit
0.3%
Walk
2.0%
Work from Home
18.5%
Other
0.9%
Based on 9,906 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
New York statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $285
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across New York at $285 (electricity about $130 , water and sewer about $65 ).
These are New York statewide averages, not a meter reading for Niskayuna. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
New York's BEA cost-of-living index is 107.9 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Niskayuna is $1,579/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to New York statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 69.4 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a New York statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Niskayuna sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Niskayuna compares to similar-size New York cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.