Living in The Capital Region

New York's Capital Region centers on Albany -- the state capital, government-employment anchor, and site of the Dongan Charter (1686), the oldest existing city charter still in force anywhere in the United States -- alongside Schenectady's honest General Electric legacy and current downtown revitalization, and Troy's genuine multi-institution higher-education cluster led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, America's oldest technological research university. All three core cities run more affordable than New York's statewide average and share a real, currently low regional unemployment rate (3.3% as of December 2025), tied partly to a growing 'Tech Valley' semiconductor cluster -- GlobalFoundries' large-scale fab in nearby Malta and the Albany NanoTech Complex's more than $1.2 billion in CHIPS Act-linked funding. Saratoga Springs adds a genuine, internationally recognized destination-tourism layer (Saratoga Race Course, dating to 1863-64, and a 19th-century mineral-spring spa heritage), and Lake George -- officially grouped with this region under New York's own Regional Economic Development Council boundaries despite its Adirondack-gateway geography -- brings a dramatic, purely seasonal resort character (a year-round population near 1,000 swelling past 15,000 each summer). Amsterdam and Glens Falls round out the region as smaller, honestly disclosed post-industrial-to-recovering cities, both genuinely affordable on sale price but carrying elevated property tax rates relative to their neighbors.

Explore The Capital Region in depth

• Cost of Living & Housing in The Capital Region
• Best Places to Live in The Capital Region
• Moving to The Capital Region
• Climate & Lifestyle in The Capital Region

Places we've researched in The Capital Region

• Albany -- Albany County
• Schenectady -- Schenectady County
• Troy -- Rensselaer County
• Saratoga Springs -- Saratoga County
• Amsterdam -- Montgomery County
• Glens Falls -- Warren County
• Lake George -- Warren County