Is Poestenkill a good place to live?
Poestenkill grades A− overall, ranked 197th of 745 in New York, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $126K and it is healthier than 88% of U.S. towns. It also does better than most on schools: its schools outperform 71% of the state's. A typical home there costs about $304K, 3.4 years of the Albany metro’s $88K median household income. Poestenkill’s median household income is $126,000, where New York’s towns sit at $82,000 and U.S. towns at $80,000. Poestenkill Community Forest, at 435 acres with 8.9 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
What makes Poestenkill stand out
Where Poestenkill beats most towns.
96% of working residents leave Poestenkill for work
Where Poestenkill’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Poestenkill grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Poestenkill is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Mount Greylock and 58 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Poestenkill. Close and well known come first.
19 mi MountainMount Greylock
16 mi MuseumClark Art Institute
12 mi Stadium & arenaMVP Arena
13 mi MuseumUSS Slater
27 mi TheatreTanglewood
12 mi Ancient siteFort OrangePhoto credits
Mount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · Clark Art Institute: Daderot, 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 · Tanglewood: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Orange: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
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Moving to Poestenkill: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Poestenkill, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Poestenkill.
Poestenkill has less food insecurity than most of New York and sends most of its workers to Albany and beyond.
| Poestenkill | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Poestenkill Community Forest | 8.9 mi | 435 |
| 2. Cowee State Forest | 2.2 mi | 338 |
| 3. Barberville Falls Preserve | 2.2 mi | 136 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
For schools, Poestenkill earns a B+
Its public schools are run by the Averill Park Central School District. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algonquin Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 608 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
For health, Poestenkill earns an A
Its widest gap with New York is food insecurity: 8.8% of its 4,389 adults worry about having enough food, against 17.2% statewide. Against the 4,921 U.S. towns with household incomes like Poestenkill’s, it is healthier than 68%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
14% of Poestenkill adults say their health is fair or poor. Poestenkill beats the New York average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 30% of Poestenkill adults feel lonely.
| Poestenkill | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 19% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| What stands out | Poestenkill | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.8% | 17.2% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.3% | 7.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents commute out of Poestenkill
Poestenkill has 261 jobs for its 2,056 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 25 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Most working residents leave Poestenkill for work: only 4% work in town. 5.3% of residents live below the poverty line in Poestenkill. Jobs based in Poestenkill grew to 261 in 2023, 29 more than in 2013.
| Poestenkill | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 5.3% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.3% | 10% | 8% |
| Work from home | 14% | 12% | 11% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Poestenkill has snowy winters and pleasant summers
Poestenkill has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Poestenkill is 80°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Fewer young adults than New York overall
Adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (23% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 45% of residents (39% statewide). 47% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 40% across New York. Poestenkill’s median age is 44.2 years.
| Poestenkill | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 47% | 32% | 29% |
| Median age | 44.2 years | 42.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 18% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 20% | 22% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.1 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Poestenkill | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.1% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.9% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.8% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.5% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.8% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 17.4% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.3% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.2% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.4% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.1% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 14.1% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.5% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.4% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 23.6% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,300, single groups can be off by several points
Inland flooding leads a moderate hazard risk in Poestenkill
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 56% of U.S. communities. Since 1981, 11 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Poestenkill.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A home in Poestenkill sells for about $425K at the median
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Poestenkill
Colleges nearby
12 within 15 miles of the center of Poestenkill
About 2 of every 100 Poestenkill residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
About Poestenkill
Town in Rensselaer County, New York
Poestenkill is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 4,322 at the 2020 census. The town is southeast of Troy and is centrally located in the county. The town is named after the Poesten Kill, an important stream in the area. The phrase poesten kil (with only one l) is traditionally said to be Dutch for "foaming water" or "foaming creek". While kil is, indeed, Dutch for "water" or "creek", Dutch dictionaries do not support the claim of poest meaning "foam". It seems more likely that the creek was named after the nickname Poest for the 17th-century local farmer and miller Jan Barentsen Wemp, who had a pimple (poest) or had difficulty breathing (poesten = to b…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1770
- Area
- 33 sq mi
- Elevation
- 928 ft
- ZIP code
- 12140
- Area code
- 518
Poestenkill’s neighbors
6 towns share a border with Poestenkill.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poestenkill | #197 | A− | C+ | — | B+ | A |
| North Greenbush | #151 | A− | C− | B− | A− | A |
| Sand Lake | #80 | A | B− | — | A− | A |
| Grafton | — | — | A− | — | C+ | A− |
| Brunswick | #276 | B+ | C+ | — | B− | B+ |
| West Sand Lake | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Berlin | — | — | B+ | — | C− | B+ |
Grafton and Berlin have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Poestenkill, Sand Lake, Grafton, Brunswick and Berlin report no FBI crime data of their own. West Sand Lake isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Poestenkill with a neighbor →
Questions about Poestenkill
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Poestenkill, NY a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Poestenkill grades A− overall, better than 76% of U.S. towns and #197 of 745 in New York. It grades A for health and B+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Poestenkill, NY expensive?
The typical home is worth about $304,000, 42% 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+.