Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Rotterdam is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B+ overall, 271st of 745 graded towns in New York, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $86K. It also does better than most on health: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 78% of the country. A typical home there costs about $227K, 2.6 years of the Albany metro’s $88K median household income. Only 111 of New York’s 1,187 towns score lower on civic life. Rotterdam’s property crime rate is 19.5 per 1,000 residents, where New York’s towns sit at 7.5 and U.S. towns at 9.9. Its National Register listings include Mabee House and Dellemont-Wemple Farm.
Where Rotterdam beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1661, comes before those of 97% of the New York towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 1,529 in 1820, 30,523 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1866 and 5 maps from 1893 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Rotterdam is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rotterdam. Close and well known come first.
17 mi Stadium & arenaMVP Arena
18 mi MuseumUSS Slater
22 mi MuseumNational Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
18 mi Ancient siteFort Orange
18 mi MuseumSchuyler Mansion
30 mi State parkGrant Cottage State Historic SiteMVP 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 · National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame: Peter Flass, CC BY 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 · Grant Cottage State Historic Site: Coingeek at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rotterdam, 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 Rotterdam.
22 miles of trail in 12 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Plotter Kill Nature Preserve, 606 acres with 9.8 miles of trail.
| Rotterdam | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.8% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Plotter Kill Nature Preserve | 9.8 mi | 606 |
| 2. Rotterdam Preserve | 1.5 mi | 96 |
| 3. Moccasin Kill Sanctuary | 1.1 mi | 96 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Rotterdam-Mohonasen Central School District. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Mohonasen Senior High School, with 924 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 671 | B− |
| Mohonasen Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 924 | A |
| Schalmont High SchoolTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 545 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Rotterdam beats the New York average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 20% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Rotterdam.
| Rotterdam | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 21% | 23% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.7% | 11% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 25% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 17% | 19% |
| What stands out | Rotterdam | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.7% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.6% | 17.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The average commute for its 15,246 working residents takes 22.5 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Most working residents leave Rotterdam for work: only 11% work in town. Rotterdam’s average trip to work is 23 minutes. The top destinations are Albany (19%), Colonie (14%) and Schenectady (14%).
| Rotterdam | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 15% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 7% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $86,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 1986, 39 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Rotterdam.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Rotterdam has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 14° and about 56 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the New York average. 31% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 40% across New York.
| Rotterdam | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 39.9 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 22% | 20% | 22% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.7 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women. Median age: women 41.0, men 38.0.
| Rotterdam | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.2% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.1% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.4% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.1% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.6% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.3% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.4% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.9% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.5% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.5% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.9% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 16.7% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.7% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.7% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The median rent in Rotterdam is $1,292 a month.
| Rotterdam | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,292 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 75% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
8 within 15 miles of the center of Rotterdam
About 4 of every 100 Rotterdam residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Rotterdam’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Rotterdam on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New York, United States
Rotterdam is a town in Schenectady County, New York, United States. The population was 30,523 at the 2020 census. Rotterdam is in the south-central part of the county. It was founded in 1661 by Dutch settlers, who named it after the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where many immigrants last touched European grounds. The town borders the city of Schenectady.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Rotterdam.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rotterdam | #271 | B+ | C+ | C+ | B | A− |
| Glenville | #162 | A− | C+ | B | B | A |
| Schenectady | #729 | D− | C+ | D | D | C |
| Princetown | — | — | C− | — | B | A− |
| Guilderland | #166 | A− | C− | B− | A− | A |
| Colonie | #253 | B+ | C | C− | A− | A |
| Florida | #686 | D | C | — | D | B− |
Princetown has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Princetown and Florida report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Rotterdam with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Rotterdam grades B+ overall, better than 67% of U.S. towns and #271 of 745 in New York. It grades A− for health, C+ for safety and B for schools.
The typical home is worth about $227,000, 57% 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+.
2 notable people were born here, including David Wilcock and Simon J. Schermerhorn.
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