Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Amsterdam grades D− overall, 735th among New York's 745 graded towns, mostly because of schools and incomes. Its schools rank behind 90% of the state's. The median household income is $56K, and 20% of residents live below the poverty line. It also has a long history, with 13 places on the National Register. On health, just 95 of New York’s 1,213 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Guy Park and US Post Office-Amsterdam. 20% of residents live below the poverty line in Amsterdam, where New York’s towns sit at 9.5% and U.S. towns at 9.6%.
Where Amsterdam beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Guy Park
Kirk Douglas| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Raphael J McNulty Academy for Intern Studies & Literacy | PK–5 | 503 |
| Marie Curie Institute of Engineering and Communication | PK–5 | 446 |
| William H Barkley Microsociety | PK–5 | 285 |
Census counts: 1,700 in 1840, a peak of 34,817 in 1930, 18,219 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1773 and 5 maps from 1895 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Amsterdam is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Amsterdam, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has commutes shorter than most of New York, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New York (mostly inland flooding).
Its public schools are run by the Amsterdam City School District. One of its 4 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilbur H Lynch Literacy AcademyLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 772 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
The typical Amsterdam home is worth about $245,000, up 4.2% in a year, 53% below the New York typical home.
| Amsterdam | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 53% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,006 a month | $1,103 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| Amsterdam | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 4.2% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Veterans Park | 0.7 mi | 18 |
| 2. Shuttleworth Park | — | 16 |
| 3. Riverlink Park | 0.1 mi | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 7,781 U.S. towns with household incomes like Amsterdam’s, it is less healthy than 54%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
44% of Amsterdam adults sleep under 7 hours. Amsterdam beats the New York average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 19. 31% of Amsterdam adults get no exercise outside work.
| Amsterdam | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 37% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 33% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 25% | 25% |
| What stands out | Amsterdam | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 11.8% | 7.9% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.6% | 12.8% |
| More adults with obesity | 41.2% | 28.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Amsterdam has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 13° and about 64 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 6,887 working residents takes 20.7 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
About one in 5 of Amsterdam’s working residents works in town. Amsterdam’s average trip to work is 21 minutes. The top destinations are Amsterdam (8%), Florida (5%) and Albany (5%).
| Amsterdam | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 22% | 10% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $56,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 86% of New York towns, with expected losses of about $325 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
The FEMA risk score in Amsterdam is 64 of 100. Since 1980, 9 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Amsterdam.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Amsterdam's reported crime rate is well below New York's. 54 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
| Amsterdam | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.1 per 1,000 residents | 7.6 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Amsterdam. Close and well known come first.
38 mi Theme parkGreat Escape
23 mi MuseumNational Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
29 mi State parkGrant Cottage State Historic Site20 mi CaveHowe Caverns
30 mi Stadium & arenaMVP Arena
31 mi MuseumUSS SlaterGreat Escape: Jared and Corin, CC BY-SA 2.0 · National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame: Peter Flass, CC BY 3.0 · Grant Cottage State Historic Site: Coingeek at English Wikipedia, Public domain · MVP Arena: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire port, CC BY-SA 3.0 · USS Slater: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Amsterdam
About 4 of every 100 Amsterdam residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
13 places in Amsterdam on the National Register of Historic Places.
37 notable people were born in Amsterdam.
City in New York, United States
Amsterdam () is the largest and most populated city in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,219. The city is named after Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam is bordered on the northern and eastern sides by the town of Amsterdam. The city developed on both sides of the Mohawk River, with the majority located on the north bank. The Port Jackson area on the south side is also part of the city.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Amsterdam.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam | #735 | D− | C+ | — | D | C |
| Amsterdam | #664 | D | B− | — | D | B− |
| Florida | #686 | D | C | — | D | B− |
| Fort Johnson | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Amsterdam, Amsterdam and Florida report no FBI crime data of their own. Fort Johnson isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Amsterdam with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Amsterdam grades D− overall, better than 3% of U.S. towns and #735 of 745 in New York. It grades C for health and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 3.8 years of the area's median household income ($64,943 across the Amsterdam, NY area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
37 notable people were born here, including Kirk Douglas and Raymond Tomlinson.
