Overall
99.6
Below avg
Metro cost profile · 2024 BEA RPP
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
Cost-of-living indicators for Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY, from Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities, overall, goods, services, and rents vs the U.S. average of 100.
- 99.6
- Overall RPP
- #94
- of 387 metros
- 102.6
- Rents RPP
- $100K
- $100K national buys
Albany ranks #94 of 387 U.S. metros by cost, and its overall price index has fallen 2.9 points since 2008.
- falling since 2008
- similar cost to Jacksonville
The verdict
Albany costs less than 24% of U.S. metros, an overall index of 99.6, 0.4% below the national average, with services the biggest swing at 134.0.
- bottom 76%
- by overall cost, nationwide
- 99.7
- goods RPP, tradable items
- 134.0
- services RPP, labor-priced
A $100,000 national salary carries the purchasing power of about $100,436 here; matching a $100K lifestyle takes roughly $99,566.
Albany vs every U.S. metro
Where this metro sits in the national cost distribution
100 Top 24% higher than 76% 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 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities · 2024
Albany cost breakdown
BEA RPP by category, 100 = national average
- Rents
Rents
102.6 RPP
- Services
Services
134 RPP
- Overall
Overall
99.6 RPP
- Goods
Goods
99.7 RPP
What this shows Albany's strongest departure is services at 134.0; rents follows at 102.6. Labor-priced local activity, rather than housing alone, is the first budget line to investigate.
Goods vs. housing, where Albany's cost comes from
Metros near Albany's overall cost, plotted by their goods price (horizontal) and housing price (vertical). Same headline RPP, very different structures.
Read the chart as text
- Albany (Albany, this metro): goods RPP 99.7, rents RPP 102.6
- Jacksonville: goods RPP 96.2, rents RPP 109.8
- Deltona: goods RPP 96.2, rents RPP 108.4
- Waterbury: goods RPP 97.3, rents RPP 89.1
- Visalia: goods RPP 105.2, rents RPP 84.1
- Allentown: goods RPP 100.6, rents RPP 105.5
- Charlottesville: goods RPP 96.8, rents RPP 107
Price Index Summary
Goods
99.7
Below avg
Services
134.0
Expensive
Rents
102.6
Above avg
Service-cost-led profile
How Albany's cost structure works
Services are the defining pressure in Albany: the BEA services component is 134.0, farther above the national baseline than local rents or tradable goods. That service-heavy pattern explains an overall RPP of 99.6 differently from a housing-led metro.
Across all reported metros, the closest component-profile matches are Portland-South Portland, ME, Kingston, NY, Burlington-South Burlington, VT. They resemble Albany across goods, services, and rents together, so they are stronger structure peers than a place selected only because its overall RPP happens to be nearby.
Across 2008-2024, Albany's overall index has fallen by 2.9 points. This is a relative price-level history, not a prediction or a personal affordability recommendation; pair it with current local wages and housing options before making a decision.
RPP History (2008-2024)
The cost of living has been trending downward, decreasing by 2.9 points over this period. The largest single-year move was in 2014, when the index dropped 2.5 points from the year before.
Albany overall RPP, 2008-2024
Every year on record, national average = 100
| Year | Overall |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 102.4 |
| 2009 | 101.8 |
| 2010 | 99.6 |
| 2011 | 100.6 |
| 2012 | 99.5 |
| 2013 | 101.6 |
| 2014 | 99.2 |
| 2015 | 100.6 |
| 2016 | 101.1 |
| 2017 | 100.6 |
| 2018 | 99.9 |
| 2019 | 99.4 |
| 2020 | 99.0 |
| 2021 | 99.0 |
| 2022 | 96.6 |
| 2023 | 98.2 |
| 2024 | 99.6 |
Latest BEA release change
What changed from 2023 to 2024
Albany's overall RPP rose +1.4 points, from 98.2 in 2023 to 99.6 in 2024. The largest category movement was rents, changing from 92.8 to 102.6. This is a relative change against the national benchmark, not a household's dollar bill.
Salary Equivalent
A $100,000 salary at the national average cost of living equals:
$99,566
in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY purchasing power
$50,000 nationally
$49,783
$75,000 nationally
$74,675
$125,000 nationally
$124,458
$150,000 nationally
$149,349
$200,000 nationally
$199,132
Use the salary calculator for custom amounts.
Affordability score
F
23/100
How far the median local paycheck goes here, combining income and housing cost
Purchasing power
Not reported
Housing affordability F
23rd percentile
A weighted composite (60% purchasing power, 40% housing affordability) percentile-ranked against every other tracked metro; a missing input redistributes its weight rather than deflating the score. Sources: Census ACS 5-Year 2023 (income) + BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 (cost). Vintages differ by design; see methodology.
Decision peers
Metros with a similar cost mix
These metros are closest to Albany's combined goods, services, and rents profile. They may not have the same overall RPP, but their price pressures are shaped in a similar way.
Portland-South Portland, ME
Goods 97.2 · Services 134.6 · Rents 105.2 Kingston, NY
Goods 99.7 · Services 133.6 · Rents 110.2 Burlington-South Burlington, VT
Goods 97.3 · Services 125.5 · Rents 103.8 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
Goods 97.3 · Services 144.9 · Rents 110.2 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA
Goods 97.1 · Services 148.8 · Rents 103.9 Rochester, NY
Goods 99.7 · Services 133.2 · Rents 87.5
NY-relative analysis
Goods prices places Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY near the bottom of NY's metros
Among the 13 NY metros PlainCost tracks with reported goods prices data, Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY ranks #3 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide rank above: it compares Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY only against its own state's metros, not the full US field.
Goods prices
#3 of 13
0th percentile in NY
Services prices
#2 of 13
85th percentile in NY
Rent prices
#5 of 13
62nd percentile in NY
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "more expensive is worse", see the national comparison above for direction context. This is a comparison within NY only, not a livability score.
Nationwide metros with similar overall cost or rent prices
Two BEA RPP-derived peer sets for Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY: nearest metros by overall regional price parity and by rents RPP. These are cross-state neighborhoods, not the in-state metro list below.
Similar overall RPP
Nearest metros by overall regional price parity (99.6 here).
Similar rents RPP
Nearest metros by rents regional price parity (102.6 here).
Raleigh-Cary, NC Rents 103.5 Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL Rents 101.6 Midland, TX Rents 101.5 Lexington Park, MD Rents 103.8 Burlington-South Burlington, VT Rents 103.8 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Rents 103.9 Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC Rents 101.2 Carson City, NV Rents 101.2
Other NY Metros
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ 112.6 Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY 109.4 Ithaca, NY 103.3 Kingston, NY 100.7 Rochester, NY 97.0 Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY 95.8
View all NY metros → Cheapest in NY → Most expensive in NY →
Metros with Similar Cost of Living
These metros have an overall RPP closest to Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY's index of 99.6.
Showing the 6 closest of 387 metro areas tracked nationally.
Cost of living guides →, cheapest and most-expensive metro rankings, salary negotiation with RPP data, and step-by-step comparison walkthroughs.
Compare to Other Metros
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What this means for Albany
How to read Albany's cost of living before a move, a job offer, or a budget.
- Budget to local prices, not headline pay, a $100K national salary spends like about $100,436 in Albany. Salary calculator
- Start with services: it indexes at 134.0, the largest departure from the national benchmark in this metro's BEA cost mix. Compare it with the other components before treating the overall RPP as a complete household budget.
- Compare Albany head-to-head against a specific destination before you decide. Compare metros
RPP is BEA's annual price-level benchmark for the data year shown, not a live market quote. Pair it with current local wages and housing costs before deciding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cost of living in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY?
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) index of 99.6, meaning it is 0.4% less expensive than the national average. Goods are indexed at 99.7, services at 134.0, and rents at 102.6. It ranks #94 out of 387 U.S. metro areas by overall cost.
What salary do I need in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY to match $100K nationally?
To maintain the same purchasing power as a $100,000 salary at the national average, you would need approximately $99,566 in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY. Conversely, $100K earned in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY has the purchasing power of $100,436 at the national average.
How expensive is rent in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY?
Rents in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY are indexed at 102.6, which is 2.6% above the national average. This is close to the U.S. average.
Is Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY getting more expensive?
From 2008 to 2024, Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY's overall cost index changed by -2.9 points (from 102.4 to 99.6). The cost of living has been declining.
What costs the most in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY?
The priciest category in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY is services at 134.0, 34.0% above the national average. The most affordable category is goods at 99.7, 0.3% below average.
What metros have a similar cost of living to Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY?
Metros with the most similar overall cost index include Jacksonville, Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Waterbury-Shelton. These areas have RPP values within a few points of Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY's 99.6.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.