New York’s most rural place is Hamilton County, northwest of Saratoga Springs.
All of the county’s 1,717 square miles are considered rural, according to a recent list from Stacker. It’s the only 100% rural county in the state.
Stacker compiled a list of New York’s most rural counties using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The counties are ranked by percent of their total land area that is rural.
Rural land is defined as any land that isn’t an urban area, meaning it doesn’t have a densely settle core of census tracts with at least 2,500 people, including 1,500 of whom must be residents of non-institutional buildings.
Even the No. 2 county on the list, Lewis, has some urban land: about two square miles.
You can see the top 10 most rural places in New York below and read the full list on Stacker’s website.
#10. Schuyler County: Rural area: 99.2% (326 square miles)- Urban area: 0.8% (3 square miles)- Total land area: 328 square miles--- #52 largest county in state, #2,744 nationwide
- Population density: 54.4 people / square mile (17,845 residents)--- #11 lowest density county in state, #1,765 nationwide
#9. St. Lawrence County: Rural area: 99.3% (2,661 square miles)- Urban area: 0.7% (19 square miles)- Total land area: 2,680 square miles--- #1 largest county in state, #194 nationwide
- Population density: 40.4 people / square mile (108,352 residents)--- #6 lowest density county in state, #1,480 nationwide
#8. Franklin County: Rural area: 99.4% (1,619 square miles)- Urban area: 0.6% (10 square miles)- Total land area: 1,629 square miles--- #4 largest county in state, #372 nationwide
- Population density: 30.9 people / square mile (50,389 residents)--- #4 lowest density county in state, #1,236 nationwide
#7. Allegany County: Rural area: 99.5% (1,024 square miles)- Urban area: 0.5% (6 square miles)- Total land area: 1,029 square miles--- #16 largest county in state, #642 nationwide
- Population density: 45.0 people / square mile (46,304 residents)--- #8 lowest density county in state, #1,579 nationwide
#6. Schoharie County: Rural area: 99.5% (619 square miles)- Urban area: 0.5% (3 square miles)- Total land area: 622 square miles--- #37 largest county in state, #1,554 nationwide
- Population density: 50.2 people / square mile (31,189 residents)--- #9 lowest density county in state, #1,696 nationwide
#5. Chenango County: Rural area: 99.6% (890 square miles)- Urban area: 0.4% (4 square miles)- Total land area: 894 square miles--- #21 largest county in state, #878 nationwide
- Population density: 53.2 people / square mile (47,527 residents)--- #10 lowest density county in state, #1,744 nationwide
#4. Delaware County: Rural area: 99.6% (1,437 square miles)- Urban area: 0.4% (5 square miles)- Total land area: 1,442 square miles--- #5 largest county in state, #416 nationwide
- Population density: 31.0 people / square mile (44,676 residents)--- #5 lowest density county in state, #1,237 nationwide
#3. Essex County: Rural area: 99.7% (1,788 square miles)- Urban area: 0.3% (6 square miles)- Total land area: 1,794 square miles--- #2 largest county in state, #331 nationwide
- Population density: 20.8 people / square mile (37,281 residents)--- #3 lowest density county in state, #918 nationwide
#2. Lewis County: Rural area: 99.9% (1,273 square miles)- Urban area: 0.1% (2 square miles)- Total land area: 1,275 square miles--- #9 largest county in state, #473 nationwide
- Population density: 20.8 people / square mile (26,456 residents)--- #2 lowest density county in state, #916 nationwide
#1. Hamilton County: Rural area: 100.0% (1,717 square miles)- Urban area: 0.0% (0 square miles)- Total land area: 1,717 square miles--- #3 largest county in state, #347 nationwide
- Population density: 2.6 people / square mile (4,454 residents)--- #1 lowest density county in state, #204 nationwide
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