NY metros

Cost of living across major NY metropolitan areas.

What living in NY costs

Across the 8 NY metros we track, the typical cost-of-living index is 98.2 against a national metro median of 95.7 — about 3% pricier than the typical US metro. That ranks NY 32 of the 48 states we cover, counting from the cheapest.

The state is not uniform: Binghamton, NY is the cheapest metro at 92.1, while New York, NY runs 112.6 — a spread of 22% between them.

A typical NY home costs $288,316, or about 4× median household income, and typical rent is $1,633/mo.

Taxes in NY

NY levies a state income tax on top of the federal one. Effective property tax runs about 2.3% of home value in a typical NY metro, and combined state and local sales tax is around 8.5%.

Property tax is the one that scales with housing, so it bites hardest in the pricier metros above. Per-metro figures are on each metro page.

Metro	COL index	Median home	Median rent
New York, NY	112.6	$727,625	$3,503
Buffalo, NY	94.9	$288,316	$1,444
Rochester, NY	98.4	$285,034	$1,597
Albany, NY	98.2	$370,533	$1,681
Poughkeepsie, NY	100.0	$350,000	$2,202
Syracuse, NY	95.7	$264,903	$1,633
Utica, NY	92.7	$230,265	$1,404
Binghamton, NY	92.1	$198,435	$1,313

Cities & towns in NY (176)

Local property tax, home values and school scores for each place.

New York →Buffalo →Rochester →Yonkers →Syracuse →Albany →New Rochelle →Cheektowaga →Mount Vernon →Schenectady →Brentwood →Utica →White Plains →Hempstead →Tonawanda Town →Troy →Levittown →Irondequoit →Niagara Falls →Binghamton →West Seneca →Freeport →Hicksville →West Babylon →Coram →Valley Stream →Elmont →East Meadow →Brighton →Central Islip →Commack →Long Beach →Huntington Station →New City →Baldwin →Uniondale →Spring Valley →Rome →Franklin Square →Centereach →Oceanside →Port Chester →Bay Shore →North Tonawanda →Harrison →Saratoga Springs →Monsey →Glen Cove →Deer Park →Holbrook →West Islip →Lindenhurst →Ossining →Plainview →Shirley →Rockville Centre →Smithtown →Peekskill →Medford →Dix Hills →Copiague →Garden City →Rotterdam →Massapequa →Selden →East Patchogue →North Bellmore →Merrick →Mineola →Lockport →Eastchester →Niskayuna →Nanuet →Hauppauge →West Hempstead →North Amityville →Lynbrook →East Northport →Mamaroneck →Lackawanna →Huntington →Holtsville →East Massapequa →Roosevelt →North Valley Stream →Ronkonkoma →Syosset →Melville →North Babylon →North Bay Shore →Lake Ronkonkoma →North Massapequa →Scarsdale →Wantagh →Cohoes →Woodmere →Islip →Bethpage →Oswego →Massapequa Park →Port Washington →Hampton Bays →Farmingville →Kings Park →Rye →Pearl River →Mastic Beach →Sayville →Bellmore →Floral Park →Seaford →Westbury →Johnson City →Greenlawn →Kenmore →Depew →New Cassel →Tonawanda →Eggertsville →South Farmingdale →Mastic →North New Hyde Park →Greece →Riverhead →Jericho →Jefferson Valley-Yorktown →St. James →Rocky Point →Latham →Wyandanch →East Islip →Nesconset →Endicott →Ridge →Salisbury →Manorville →Geneva →Stony Point →Stony Brook →Patchogue →Haverstraw →North Merrick →Babylon →Miller Place →Endwell →Tarrytown →Mount Sinai →Roessleville →East Glenville →North Wantagh →Dobbs Ferry →Fulton →Suffern →De Witt →Inwood →North Lindenhurst →Elwood →Lake Grove →Great Neck →Terryville →Mount Kisco →Middle Island →West Haverstraw →Canandaigua →North Bellport →Sleepy Hollow →Chestnut Ridge →Oneida →Watervliet →South Huntington →New Hyde Park →East Setauket →Lancaster →North Gates →East Rockaway →Airmont →