Which New York counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 59 New York counties we have scored, Cayuga County scores highest at 93 and Queens County lowest at 70. New York ranks 25th of 50 overall, at 87 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Buildability separates its counties most: 0 to 10 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 59 counties · 303 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsNew York ranks 25th of 50, 87 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #24 and #28. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.

Every scored county in New York, best score first

Find a county59 counties


Cayuga → 108 people / sq mi	93	24	19	11	15	14	10
Genesee → 117 people / sq mi	93	25	19	11	15	13	10
Montgomery → 123 people / sq mi	93	25	19	12	15	12	10
Warren → 75 people / sq mi	93	25	19	12	15	13	9
Bronx → 32162 people / sq mi	92	25	18	13	12	14	10
Onondaga → 601 people / sq mi	92	25	19	11	15	12	10
Seneca → 100 people / sq mi	92	25	19	10	15	13	10
Wayne → 150 people / sq mi	92	25	19	10	15	13	10
Columbia → 95 people / sq mi	91	24	19	12	15	12	9
Livingston → 97 people / sq mi	91	24	19	11	15	12	10
Ontario → 175 people / sq mi	91	24	19	11	14	13	10
Orleans → 100 people / sq mi	91	25	19	10	15	12	10
Westchester → 2300 people / sq mi	91	24	19	13	14	13	8
Dutchess → 374 people / sq mi	90	24	19	13	14	13	7
Monroe → 1139 people / sq mi	90	24	19	10	15	12	10
Yates → 72 people / sq mi	90	22	19	11	15	14	9
Chautauqua → 118 people / sq mi	89	23	19	9	15	13	10
Niagara → 401 people / sq mi	89	24	19	10	14	12	10
Oneida → 188 people / sq mi	89	23	18	11	15	12	10
Putnam → 426 people / sq mi	89	24	19	13	14	12	7
Rensselaer → 244 people / sq mi	89	25	19	12	14	12	7
Saratoga → 295 people / sq mi	89	25	19	12	14	12	7
Sullivan → 83 people / sq mi	89	24	19	13	15	11	7
Broome → 278 people / sq mi	88	25	19	11	14	12	7
Chenango → 51 people / sq mi	88	25	19	11	14	12	7
Essex → 21 people / sq mi	88	25	17	11	14	11	10
Lewis → 21 people / sq mi	88	25	19	10	15	11	8
Madison → 102 people / sq mi	88	25	19	10	14	12	8
Otsego → 60 people / sq mi	88	24	19	11	15	12	7
Tioga → 92 people / sq mi	88	25	19	11	14	12	7
Tompkins → 218 people / sq mi	88	24	19	11	15	10	9
Albany → 606 people / sq mi	87	25	19	12	13	11	7
Oswego → 124 people / sq mi	87	24	19	10	15	11	8
Rockland → 1962 people / sq mi	87	25	19	13	12	12	6
Wyoming → 67 people / sq mi	87	25	19	10	15	11	7
Fulton → 105 people / sq mi	86	25	18	10	15	11	7
Jefferson → 91 people / sq mi	86	23	19	10	15	10	9
Orange → 502 people / sq mi	86	25	19	13	12	11	6
Schoharie → 48 people / sq mi	86	25	19	10	14	11	7
Schuyler → 53 people / sq mi	86	23	19	11	15	11	7
Ulster → 162 people / sq mi	86	24	19	13	12	11	7
Allegany → 45 people / sq mi	85	23	19	11	15	10	7
Greene → 73 people / sq mi	85	25	19	12	11	11	7
Hamilton → 3 people / sq mi	85	25	18	11	13	11	7
Schenectady → 781 people / sq mi	85	23	19	12	14	10	7
St. Lawrence → 40 people / sq mi	85	24	18	10	14	11	8
Steuben → 66 people / sq mi	85	23	19	11	15	10	7
Washington → 72 people / sq mi	85	25	19	12	14	9	6
Cortland → 92 people / sq mi	84	25	19	10	13	11	6
Erie → 907 people / sq mi	84	23	18	10	14	10	9
Suffolk → 1672 people / sq mi	84	25	16	13	11	13	6
Franklin → 29 people / sq mi	83	25	18	10	13	10	7
Herkimer → 42 people / sq mi	83	23	19	8	15	10	8
Chemung → 200 people / sq mi	82	23	18	9	15	10	7
Clinton → 75 people / sq mi	82	23	19	10	13	10	7
Cattaraugus → 58 people / sq mi	81	23	19	10	14	10	5
Delaware → 31 people / sq mi	80	25	19	11	11	9	5
Nassau → 4856 people / sq mi	70	23	17	13	7	10	0
Queens → 20715 people / sq mi	70	23	19	13	4	11	0

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

87% of New York's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Cayuga, Genesee and Montgomery. The weakest are Nassau, Queens and Delaware. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price) and growing food (season, soil and water for crops).

What separates them

Buildability: Cayuga County scores 10 of 10, Queens County 0. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Hazard: Cayuga County scores 15 of 15, Queens County 4. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
Solar: Bronx County scores 13 of 15, Herkimer County 8. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.
Food: Cayuga County scores 14 of 15, Delaware County 9. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
Legal: Cayuga County scores 19 of 20, Suffolk County 16. Whether you can reach the land and live on it: road access, distance to emergency care, internet and cell, and how built up the area is, which decides how many lot-size, livestock, and zoning rules you will meet.
Water: Genesee County scores 25 of 25, Yates County 22. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.

The state's soft spot

Solar is New York's weakest dimension, at 11 of 15 for the state as a whole. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $33k to $91k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full New York row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in New York

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in New York? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsNew York: 87 of 100, 25th of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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