Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Guilderland grades A− overall, 166th among New York's 745 graded towns. Natural-hazard risk is low. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 93% of the country and the median household earns $112K. The catch is cost: homes are expensive, about $357K for a typical one and 4.1 times the Albany metro’s $88K median household income. 58% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Guilderland, against 32% in New York’s towns and 29% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Delaware and Hudson Railroad Passenger Station and Hayes House. Guilderland is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 80% of U.S. towns.
Where Guilderland beats most towns.
Its 41 National Register listings are more than in 97% of New York towns with a listing.
Census counts: 2,476 in 1810, 36,848 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1760 and 5 maps from 1893 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Guilderland is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Guilderland. Close and well known come first.
11 mi Stadium & arenaMVP Arena
12 mi MuseumUSS Slater
12 mi Ancient siteFort Orange
11 mi MuseumSchuyler Mansion
35 mi MuseumOlana State Historic Site
11 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 · 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 · Olana State Historic Site: Netniks, CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Egg: Nitant23, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Guilderland, 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 Guilderland.
Guilderland has less food insecurity than most of New York, has seen reported crime fall by a third or more and has commutes shorter than most of New York.
Count the trails in 22 parks and preserves and they come to 48 miles. Albany Pine Bush Preserve, at 713 acres with 3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Guilderland’s density of trails stands at 0.8 miles per square mile.
| Guilderland | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9.9% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bozen Kill Preserve | 6.1 mi | 424 |
| 2. Tawasentha Park | 5.4 mi | 172 |
| 3. Thacher State Park | 3.8 mi | 224 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Guilderland Central School District. Two of its 8 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. Public school enrollment locally: 2,160 students across 5 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farnsworth Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,186 | B− |
| Guilderland High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,476 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with New York is food insecurity: 9.6% of its 10,531 adults worry about having enough food, against 17.2% statewide.
On the CDC’s 32 measures, Guilderland is ahead of New York on 15 and behind on 2. Guilderland: 14% of adults report frequent mental distress. In Guilderland, 11% of adults report frequent physical distress, and 19% get no exercise outside work.
| Guilderland | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 25% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.8% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Guilderland | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.6% | 17.2% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.5% | 7.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.6% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Since 1999, Guilderland has seen 9 flood insurance claims paid out. Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 92% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 63% come from inland flooding and 13% from tornadoes. Households here have drawn federal disaster aid in 8 declared disasters, most recently in 2017.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 15° and about 56 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 16,933 working residents takes 21.4 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
16% of workers work remotely from home in Guilderland. The top destinations are Albany (31%), Colonie (15%) and Schenectady (5%). The town’s mean commuting time comes in at 21 minutes. Since 2013, Guilderland has added 689 jobs, to 13,034 in 2023.
| Guilderland | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $112,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 16% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.9% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes fell from 762 to 504 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
In Guilderland, the rate of thefts and burglaries is 12.9 per 1,000 residents. For Guilderland, the violent offense rate is 0.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Guilderland | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 12.9 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.9 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The midpoint rent in Guilderland is $1,564 a month. The share of households in Guilderland who own their home: 65%. Also worth knowing: 57% of the homes sold in Guilderland went for more than their asking price.
| Guilderland | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,564 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 65% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
16 within 15 miles of the center of Guilderland
About 11 of every 100 Guilderland residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
41 places in Guilderland on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Guilderland.
Town in New York, United States
Guilderland is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. In the 2020 census, the town had a population of 36,848. The town is named for the Gelderland province in the Netherlands. The town of Guilderland is on the central-northwest border of the county. It is just west of Albany, the capital of the U.S. state of New York.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Guilderland.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guilderland | #166 | A− | C− | B− | A− | A |
| Knox | #195 | A− | B | — | B | A |
| Albany | #669 | D | C | D | C− | B+ |
| Colonie | #253 | B+ | C | C− | A− | A |
| New Scotland | #75 | A | C+ | — | A | A |
| Westmere | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Rotterdam | #271 | B+ | C+ | C+ | B | A− |
| Bethlehem | #77 | A | C− | B+ | A− | A+ |
Knox and New Scotland report no FBI crime data of their own. Westmere isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Guilderland with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Guilderland grades A− overall, better than 80% of U.S. towns and #166 of 745 in New York. It grades A for health, B− for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $357,000, 32% below the New York typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
4 notable people were born here, including Ze Frank and William D. Veeder.
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