Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A well-rated place to live, with prices to match. It does especially well on health (A) — residents are healthier than 86% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Add incomes to its strengths — the median household earns $102K. The catch is safety — its crime rate is higher than 82% of U.S. towns, with 120 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Cost of living is weaker too: the typical home is worth about $323K, 3.7 years of the Albany metro’s $88K median household income. Put together, the subjects come to a B+ overall, better than just over two thirds of U.S. towns. That places it 253rd of 745 in New York. Its National Register listings include Watervliet Shaker Historic District and Watervliet Shaker Historic District (Boundary Increase).
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FBI crime data, 2025 · home values, Zillow · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Colonie beats most towns.
Watervliet Shaker Historic District
Its 46 National Register listings are more than in 98% of New York towns with a listing.
Census counts: 1,406 in 1810, 85,590 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1866 and 7 maps from 1893 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Colonie is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Colonie. Close and well known come first.
7 mi Stadium & arenaMVP Arena
32 mi MountainMount Greylock
8 mi MuseumUSS Slater
7 mi Ancient siteFort Orange
7 mi MuseumSchuyler Mansion
6 mi TheatreThe EggMVP Arena: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire port, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · USS Slater: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Orange: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Schuyler Mansion: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire port, CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Egg: Nitant23, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Colonie, 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 Colonie.
Colonie draws workers from Albany and beyond and has seen reported crime fall beyond ordinary swings, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Trails total 77 miles in 36 parks and preserves. Albany Pine Bush Preserve, at 477 acres with 1.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Colonie’s trail network density is 1.3 miles per square mile.
| Colonie | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.3 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The Crossings of Colonie | 6.4 mi | 156 |
| 2. Colonie Mohawk River Park | 6.3 mi | 148 |
| 3. Ann Lee Pond | 2 mi | 177 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Three of its 28 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. The public schools here belong to North Colonie CSD. The 6 public schools in Colonie teach 2,754 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shaker Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,486 | B |
| Shaker High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,138 | A+ |
| Colonie Central High SchoolTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,640 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
74,730 jobs are based in Colonie, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 20 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Colonie: 7.3% of residents live below the poverty line, below both the New York town median (9.5%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Roughly one working resident in four has a job in Colonie itself. Its mean commuting time is 20 minutes. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs here rose by 8,129, to 74,730.
| Colonie | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 25% | 10% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 17% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $102,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
89 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 16 properties have flooded more than once.
64% of Colonie’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by tornadoes at 11%. Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 92% of U.S. communities. 89 flood insurance claims have been paid locally since 1979.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The share of adults in Colonie who say their health is fair or poor: 15%. Colonie: 9.7% of adults have diabetes, against 11% in New York’s towns and 12% across U.S. towns. 30% of adults locally have obesity; 12% report frequent physical distress.
| Colonie | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 32% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Colonie | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.4% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.3% | 17.2% |
| More adults with depression | 20.7% | 17.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 3,003 to 2,452 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property offense rate in Colonie is 28.3 per 1,000 residents. The violent crime rate in the town is 1.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Colonie | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 28.3 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.5 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 15° and about 59 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Four-year graduates: 46% of adults 25 and older here, 40% across New York. No age group stands out against New York: all are within 4 points. A fifth of Colonie residents are 65 or older.
| Colonie | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 46% | 32% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 40.9 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.1 points). Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women. Median age: women 41.5, men 40.2.
| Colonie | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.1% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.6% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.1% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.7% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.8% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.6% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.7% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 21.6% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.6% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.5% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.6% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 21.1% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
For Colonie, the midpoint rent is $1,436 a month. In Colonie, two fifths of renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent. Homes sold in Colonie spent a median 6 days on the market.
| Colonie | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,436 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 40% | 49% | 48% |
| Households that own their home | 69% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
16 within 15 miles of the center of Colonie
About 9 of every 100 Colonie residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
2 colleges in town.
46 places in Colonie on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New York, United States
Colonie is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. It is the most-populous suburb of Albany, and is the third-largest town in area in Albany County, occupying approximately 11% of the county. Several hamlets exist within the town. As of the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 85,590. The name is derived from the Dutch Colonye or "Colonie", derived from the Colonie of Rensselaerswyck. All the land outside the Village of Beverwyck (now Albany) was referred to as the "Colonie". The town of Colonie is north of Albany and is at the northern border of the county. Within the town of Colonie are two villages, one also known as Colonie and the other known as Menands.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Colonie.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colonie | #253 | B+ | C | C− | A− | A |
| Watervliet | #593 | C− | B− | C | C− | C+ |
| Cohoes | #644 | C− | C | C+ | C− | C+ |
| Albany | #669 | D | C | D | C− | B+ |
| Roessleville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Guilderland | #166 | A− | C− | B− | A− | A |
| Waterford | #19 | A+ | B | A | A | A− |
| Halfmoon | #159 | A− | C− | — | A− | A |
Halfmoon reports no FBI crime data of its own. Roessleville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Green Island and Green Island are one community, graded once. Compare Colonie with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Colonie grades B+ overall, better than 68% of U.S. towns and #253 of 745 in New York. It grades A for health, C− for safety and A− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
The typical home is worth about $323,000, 38% below the New York typical home.
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