What does this measure?

The home value reported by the homeowner to the Census Bureau, adjusted for inflation. The median represents the mid-point of home values (half the values are above the median and half below).

Why is this important?

A home is usually a person's or family's highest-valued possession. Home values are also an indicator of the region's cost of living, relative wealth, and general prosperity.

How is the Greater Capital Region performing?

In 2005-2007, the Greater Capital Region had a median home value of about $170,000. This was lower than the national figure of $181,800, and much lower than the state figure of about $293,400. Saratoga County had the highest median home value at $197,000, while Schoharie had the lowest at $120,600.

Notes about the data

Because of limitations in available data, figures for 1990 and 2000 are for single-family homes, but figures for 2005-07 are for all owner-occupied housing units. For most counties in the Greater Capital Region, the difference is not large enough to affect analysis of trends. However, for Saratoga County, the difference results in understating the gain in home value by about 10 percentage points.

The 2005-2007 figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined three years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Figures are adjusted to 2007 dollars. Regional medians were calculated by weighting county medians based on share of population.