Census-designated place · Albany County, New York

Westmere, New York

Westmere is a census-designated place in Albany County, New York, part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY metro area. It has 8,334 residents. Westmere, New York has a quality-of-life score of 90 out of 100 (very high), ranking #1,547 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within New York it ranks #270 of 859 cities and towns. It ranks best on public EV charging ports (high), distance to an airport (low) and new business applications (high). It ranks worst on time spent in the emergency room (high), hospital quality rating (low) and income inequality (Gini index) (high).

90Very high

Quality-of-life score: #1,547 of 15,651 cities and towns
New York: #270 of 859 in NY
Population: 8,334 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 2,629.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 3680423

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety40#9,368/15,637
Economy79#3,243/15,631
Housing41#8,876/14,977
Health90#1,559/15,609
Healthcare89#1,706/15,650
Environment91#1,387/15,453
Education76#3,728/15,649
Infrastructure95#831/15,650
Community66#5,323/15,651
Leisure & amenities89#1,761/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Westmere, New York ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Albany County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Public EV charging ports · high48.9 /10k
99/100New York 10.8 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyAlbany County value
Distance to an airport · low7 mi
99/100New York 15 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauAlbany County value
New business applications · high40.0 /1k
99/100New York 15.1 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauAlbany County value
Poor or fair health · low11.2%
95/100New York 16.8%United States 19.9%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Frequent mental distress · low14.0%
95/100New York 17.8%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Natural hazard risk · low3.7
95/100New York 12.22025Federal Emergency Management AgencyAlbany County value

Weaknesses

Time spent in the emergency room · high305 min
0/100New York 202 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesAlbany County value
Hospital quality rating · low1.7
3/100New York 2.8United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesAlbany County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.501
5/100New York 0.517United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Effective property tax rate · high1.97%
8/100New York 1.30%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Property crime rate · high2,012 /100k
14/100New York 1,575 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationAlbany County value
Child care cost burden · high37.2%
16/100New York 37.7%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAlbany County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
6,933 (2015-2019) → 8,334 (2020-2024)
+20%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
83.4% (2015-2019) → 93.6% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$68,523 (2015-2019) → $88,378 (2020-2024)
+29%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
47.0% (2015-2019) → 41.7% (2020-2024)
−5.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateWorsening
2.3% (2015-2019) → 6.8% (2020-2024)
+4.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Average commute timeImproving
22.2 min (2015-2019) → 18.0 min (2020-2024)
−19%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Westmere, New York improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Household income+29%$68,523 → $88,378

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Westmere, New York between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.2 min2015-2019	18.0 min2020-2024	−4.2 min	Within the margin of error	86%
Bachelor's degree or higher	52.0%2015-2019	50.4%2020-2024	−1.6 points	Within the margin of error	18%
Broadband subscriptions	83.4%2015-2019	93.6%2020-2024	+10 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Effective property tax rate	2.04%2015-2019	1.97%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	30%
High school diploma or higher	97.5%2015-2019	93.9%2020-2024	−3.5 points	Within the margin of error	9%
Home price to income ratio	3.4×2015-2019	3.5×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	71%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4392015-2019	0.5012020-2024	+0.062	Within the margin of error	12%
Median household income	$68,5232015-2019	$88,3782020-2024	+29%	Improved	53%
Poverty rate	5.5%2015-2019	7.2%2020-2024	+1.7 points	Within the margin of error	28%
Rent as share of income	29.1%2015-2019	27.5%2020-2024	−1.6 points	Within the margin of error	67%
Rent-burdened households	47.0%2015-2019	41.7%2020-2024	−5.4 points	Within the margin of error	73%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	3.6%2015-2019	5.4%2020-2024	+1.8 points	Within the margin of error	27%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Westmere, New York five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Westmere, New York in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Westmere, New York itself moved +1.2 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

8,334 residents (±758)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

3,530 households (±323)

Westmere, New York
New York share

Under $25k10%†353
$25k–50k15%†534
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

3,530 households (±323)

Westmere, New York
New York share

Own52%1,843
Rent48%1,687

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

4,484 workers (±422)

Westmere, New York
New York share

Drive alone75%3,355
Carpool8.0%†360
Public transit0.2%†10

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Albany County, the county holding most of Westmere's residents.

Albany County has 9,465 employer establishments, 298 for every 10,000 residents (1.20× the US rate of 248; 1.09× New York's), with 180,421 paid employees at an average annual pay of $66,300. The Census Bureau also counts 24,565 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 9,465; 24,565 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 298; US 248 · New York 274
Paid employees: 180,421
Average annual pay: $66,300; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Albany County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	782	24.6	1.34×More than typical	11,730	$24,013	122
Ambulatory health care services	651	20.5	0.98×About typical	12,954	$81,429	1,180
Specialty trade contractors	487	15.3	0.99×About typical	5,361	$86,963	1,050
Computer systems design and related services	362	11.4	2.63×More than typical	2,981	$100,663	335
Lessors of real estate	342	10.8	0.87×About typical	1,953	$55,747	3,350
Limited-service restaurants	339	10.7	1.33×More than typical	4,138	$19,693	52
Full-service restaurants	328	10.3	1.34×More than typical	6,236	$27,481	49
Legal services	299	9.4	1.75×More than typical	3,116	$98,249	481
Construction of buildings	254	8	1.06×About typical	1,587	$88,948	500
Services to buildings and dwellings	226	7.1	1.06×About typical	3,789	$33,436	819
Personal care services	219	6.9	1.44×More than typical	1,371	$29,786	986
Offices of physicians	218	6.9	1.06×About typical	5,771	$112,315	290

Rank places for an industry Open Albany County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 317,590 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $1.3M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Westmere, New York: $151 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $1.3M; −50% vs FY2025
Per resident: $151; US $1,994
Sole-source: 14%; US 30%
Single offer: 1.6%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of the Army$985.8K78%
Department of Housing and Urban Development$275.1K22%
National Aeronautics and Space Administration$156.3K12%
National Institutes of Health$17.3K1.4%

Top recipients

THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK$961.7K77%
THE KENNEDY COLLECTIVE, INC.$206.5K16%
TRUWEATHER SOLUTIONS, INC$156.3K12%
KNOLL, INC.$101K8.0%
RICHARD D. POSTULKA$18.2K1.5%

Spending by fiscal year

1.3MFY2017
3.5MFY2018
2MFY2019
4.2MFY2020
3.2MFY2021
2.7MFY2022
3.6MFY2023
2M

Top industries (NAICS)

Scientific research and development services · 5417$1M82%
Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services · 5412$174.1K14%
Office furniture (including fixtures) manufacturing · 3372$101K8.0%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$21.7K1.7%
Nonresidential building construction · 2362$2,4040.2%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Westmere, New York, so they do not add up across cities.

Westmere, New York's figures are part of those of Albany County, NY ($206.5M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.6% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Westmere is mostly in Albany County.

See federal money in Albany County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Westmere, New York is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Paul TonkoD-NY-20 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 1.3%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Albany County91100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY92

Other cities and towns in Albany County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3680423

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends