Best Places to Live in New York for 2025-26

Four Hudson Valley places have made this year's list of the best places to live in New York State.

Every year, the folks at U.S. News & World Report release their yearly ranking of the best places to live across the nation.

This year, they selected 250 major cities to try and identify which cities are the best to live in based on various factors, including that each place had to have good value, be a desirable place to live, have a strong job market, and have a high quality of life.

They also released state-specific rankings of 850 cities and revealed the top 26 places to live in New York.

Best Major Cities to Live in the U.S.

Before we share the New York results (below), here are the top five places to live in the nation according to this year's report. Cary, North Carolina (#5), Fishers, Indiana (#4), Pearland, Texas (#3), Carmel, Indiana (#2), and Johns Creek, Georgia (#1).

Congratulations to the winning cities, but being we've never visited any of the top 5 places, so let's move on to some of the places we are familiar with.

Best Places to Live in New York State

This year's U.S. News ranked 26 New York locations based on value, desirability, job market, and quality of life. Four Hudson Valley places made this year's list, starting with Poughkeepsie, NY, which scored a 4.2 out of 10 and ranked at #26.

Home values are lower in Poughkeepsie than the national median average, it has a higher unemployment rate and lower household income than many other New York areas.

SEE ALSO: New Yorkers Moving to the Hudson Valley Are in for a Rude Awakening

Spring Valley, NY, ranked at #25 this year, followed by New York City, Rochester, Syracuse, Watertown, Ithaca, Albany, Buffalo, Binghamton, Schenectady, and Utica.

Kingston, New York Ranks

Kingston ranked as the 14th best place to live in New York, scoring a 4.7 out of 10 due in large part to lower housing costs, unemployment, and commute times. Mount Vernon ranked at #13, followed by Yonkers, Middletown, Lindenhurst, Elmira, New Rochelle, Glens Falls, and Tonawanda.

Top Five Places to Live in New York

The top five places in 2025-26 in New York are White Plains (#5), Cheektowaga (#4), Hicksville (#3), and Greece (#2). Long Island's Massapequa, NY, was ranked as the #1 place to live in New York this year, scoring a 6.1 out of 10.

To see the full list and more on how the rankings are determined, check out U.S. News & World Report online.