Albany Metro Has NY’s 4th Lowest Percentage of Severely Cost-Burdened Households
The Albany-Schenectady-Troy metropolitan statistical area (MSA) has one of New York’s lowest percentages of households severely cost-burdened by rents and home ownership, but their ranks are increasing faster than most other metros in the state, according to a Center for Economic Growth (CEG) analysis of U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) one-year estimates.
Metro Areas
In 2022, 55,655 households in the five-county Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA were severely cost-burdened, meaning they were spending 50 percent or more of their income on rent or owner costs such as mortgages, real estate taxes and home insurance. Out of all the households for which financial characteristics were available, 14.9 percent of them were severely cost-burdened.
In 2022, the Glens Falls MSA (Warren and Washington counties) had 8,090 severely cost-burdened households, or 15.0 percent of all computed households. Both Capital Region metro areas had severely cost-burdened rates lower than most other MSAs in the state, Northeast and U.S.
Threatening these low rankings is the rapid growth of severely cost-burdened households since the pandemic. Between 2019 and 2022, the number of severely cost-burdened households increased by 37.4 percent in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA and 34.9 percent in the Glens Falls MSA. Those were the third and fourth fastest growth rates among the state’s MSAs, respectively.
Micro Areas
While its percentage of severely cost-burdened households was not as high as the Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA’s, in the Hudson micropolitan area (µSA) has the state’s highest rate for a micro area. Between 2017 and 2021, the Hudson µSA, which covers Columbia County, averaged 3,590 severely cost-burdened households, or 14.3 percent all computed households. Among 42 Northeast micro areas, the Hudson µSA had the second highest severely cost-burdened household rate, trailing only the Vineyard Haven µSA in Massachusetts at 18.6 percent.
CEG Initiatives
In April 2021, CEG launched a talent attraction campaign using the CapNY brand, along with a website – GoCapNY.com – and its associated social media channels. To help attract even more young professionals to the Capital Region, CEG launched a CapNY Connectors initiative. The Connectors are local residents who love living in the Capital Region and who have volunteered to share that love to help connect prospective new residents to our community. They work in diverse industries, pursue unique interests, and come from all walks of life. The CapNY Connectors are available to answer questions and discuss first-hand experience of what it’s like to work and live in CapNY.
Young professionals can find a connector who shares their interests and ambitions by checking out the profiles on the GoCapNY website. Website visitors who are unsure of whom they should connect with, can fill out the form to provide some additional details, and the CapNY networking team will make a connection for them.
Visit CapNY Connectors at https://gocapny.com/capny-connectors.
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