Rensselaer, Schenectady, Albany Counties top statewide eviction rate

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Rensselaer County had the highest rate of evictions in the state in 2022, according to a new website from Cornell University. Schenectady County tied for third and Albany County tied for fourth.

As some in the Hudson Valley and beyond call for Good Cause eviction protections, Rensselaer County sees over 10% of its rentals ending in evictions, according to Cornell University’s Buffalo ILR Co-Lab. Check out their stats below:

Ranking	County	Evictions filed per 100 renter households
1	Rensselaer	11
2	Bronx	10
3	Schenectady	9
3	Niagara	9
4	Suffolk	8
4	Sullivan	8
4	Erie	8
4	Albany	8
4	Monroe	8
5	Broome	7

The new interactive tool lets users generate data on evictions and rents based on zipcode or legislative district. It shows locals how many total evictions were filed in 2022, too—1,959 in Schenectady, 2,628 in Rensselaer County, and 4,326 in Albany County.

The numbers show that, statewide, there was roughly one eviction filing for every 18 "renter households" in the state, and that 26% of New York tenants spend over half of their income on rent. Dr. Russell Weaver, creator of the website and Director of Research at the Cornell ILR Buffalo Co-Lab, said, "[Eviction] filings remain disproportionately concentrated in low-income communities of color, making eviction a key factor in the perpetuation and reproduction of concentrated poverty."

Housing Justice for All, a statewide coalition of more than 80 organizations representing tenants and homeless New Yorkers, examined Assemblymember Patricia Fahy's Albany district. It had the 13th-highest eviction rate in the state. She has yet to sign on to the state Good Cause eviction bill, they noted, though she did cosponsor the Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) and the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act.

“When we had Good Cause Evictions locally, it was always complicated explaining to tenants across the Hudson River that they weren’t entitled to the same protections as their neighbors in the City of Albany,” said Canyon Ryan, Executive Director at United Tenants of Albany. “This data highlights the importance of sound, all-encompassing tenant protections like statewide Good Cause and the need for rental assistance programs like HAVP.”