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Jump between the major ranking views for New York and compare how the order changes when priorities shift.
State Ranking
Best Cities in NY
These are the top cities in New York based on overall MoveScore and the broader relocation trade-offs that matter when choosing where to live.
This page compares the strongest overall city options in New York using a data-driven ranking model tied to affordability, safety, and livability.
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Data-driven ranking of Best Cities in NY based on cost, safety, and livability.
Top cities in New York
Highest-ranked results based on this page’s weighting model.
#1
69
Auburn, NY scores 69/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a more affordable than many comparable markets cost profile,…
#2
North Tonawanda, NY scores 69/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a more affordable than many comparable markets cost…
#3
69
Buffalo, NY scores 69/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a large city with a more affordable than many comparable markets cost profile,…
More ranked cities
Continue exploring cities that score well within this ranking model.
#4
Rochester, NY scores 68/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a mid-sized city with…
#5
67
Troy, NY scores 67/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#6
67
Utica, NY scores 67/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#7
67
Rome, NY scores 67/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#8
66
Yonkers, NY scores 66/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a mid-sized city with…
#9
Schenectady, NY scores 66/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#10
66
Syracuse, NY scores 66/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a mid-sized city with…
#11
65
New York, NY scores 65/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a major U.S.…
#12
Niagara Falls, NY scores 64/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city…
#13
Jamestown, NY scores 64/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#14
63
Albany, NY scores 63/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#15
New Rochelle, NY scores 63/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city…
#16
Binghamton, NY scores 63/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#17
63
Elmira, NY scores 63/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#18
Middletown, NY scores 62/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#19
Peekskill, NY scores 62/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#20
Long Beach, NY scores 61/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city…
What makes these cities rank well
People comparing cities in New York usually want a faster way to narrow the field before clicking into full city profiles. This ranking does that by surfacing cities that perform well against the weighting model used on this page.
Use the links below each city to jump into the full profile, compare related rankings, and explore other state-level pathways without starting over from scratch.
How this ranking works
The overall ranking model in New York uses MoveScore as the core signal, which reflects affordability, safety, climate, infrastructure, schools, grocery access, and broader relocation trade-offs.
These pages are designed to help users compare cities faster, then click deeper into the city profiles for more detail on cost of living, safety, climate, schools, infrastructure, grocery access, and broader trade-offs.
MoveScore
Affordability
Safety
Climate
Infrastructure
Schools
Grocery Access