The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Schenectady County, NY
Schenectady County is home to 160,400 residents and includes Schenectady and Scotia · Updated November 2026
Is Schenectady County, NY safe?
Crime in Schenectady County is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 67% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Schenectady County. Violent and property crime both grade B+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Schenectady County run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 727 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
33% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Schenectady County as a whole, and 67% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Schenectady County scores 727.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Schenectady County, NY at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Schenectady County, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out in Schenectady County
Car thefts are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Schenectady County runs 33% above the US rate, but car thefts run at less than half that rate: 1.1 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Schenectady County
Crime varies widely across Schenectady County: 68% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 22% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Schenectady County run from A+ to F; 50% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
68%10%22%
A or B 68%C 10%D or F 22%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Schenectady County with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the southwest side has the least crime and the Schenectady area the most.
Is crime going up in Schenectady County?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Schenectady County is down 20%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.9 to 3.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 21 to 22 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 12%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Schenectady CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Schenectady County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Schenectady County
Violent, US
Property, Schenectady County
Property, US
2016
+16%
+4%
+20%
+15%
2017
+10%
+4%
+18%
+12%
2018
+18%
+0%
+17%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-11%
+4%
-4%
-8%
2021
-21%
+6%
-6%
-10%
2022
-6%
+5%
+17%
-6%
2023
-9%
+2%
+8%
-7%
2024
-20%
-4%
+2%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Schenectady County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Schenectady County has about 50 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 33% more than the US as a whole and 24% more than New York.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Theft is the most common crime in Schenectady County, about 37% of everything reported, but assault costs more, because each one does more harm.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
How Schenectady County compares with nearby counties
Schenectady County has the most crime of its 10 nearest counties.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Schenectady County. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with counties of similar size and density, Schenectady County has more crime than 87% of them.
Shops, walkability and transit in Schenectady County
One thing sets Schenectady County apart: it has 6 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places like that tend to report more theft and robbery, and they run high here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.8.5 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 83% of Americans
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft. 64% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (27 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 82% of Americans
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Schenectady County: D+ (21 of 100).6 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 76% of Americans
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.37 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 69% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.26% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 64% of Americans
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.82% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 58% of Americans
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What crime costs Schenectady County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Schenectady County about $1,210 a year per household, about the same as the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $79 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $219 million a year, or $1,364 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$12 million
$77
Rape
$3.0 million
$19
Robbery
$2.6 million
$16
Assault
$29 million
$179
Burglary
$3.4 million
$21
Theft
$15 million
$95
Vehicle theft
$2.8 million
$17
Arson
$400,000
$3
Vandalism
$10 million
$63
Total
$79 million
$490
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Schenectady County means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
Schools in Schenectady County, NY average a SchoolGrade of C: 54% of students test proficient, against 55% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Schenectady County on SchoolGrade
