Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Alexandria gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $172K, 2.6 years of the Watertown metro’s $66K median household income. It grades B+ overall, 229th of 745 graded towns in New York. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 90% of U.S. towns, with 7 places on the National Register. 27% of working residents work locally in Alexandria, above both New York’s towns (10%) and U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Cornwall Brothers' Store and Ingleside.
Where Alexandria beats most towns.
Cornwall Brothers' Store
Census counts: 1,523 in 1830, 3,741 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 1864 and 2 maps from 1903 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Alexandria is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Alexandria, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Alexandria.
Alexandria trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, is a second-home town and gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 79% of U.S. communities. Since 1993, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Alexandria.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its B is the best School Grade on its borders; Orleans (C+) is next.
Its public schools are run by the Alexandria Central School District. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandria Central Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 243 | C |
| Alexandria Central High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 224 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
44.8% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, against 3.5% statewide, which helps explain the older median age.
People 65 and older are 28% of residents (18% statewide); children under 18 are 15% of residents (21% statewide). The median age in Alexandria is 49.5 years. Alexandria has lost 2.9% of its people since 2020, down to 3,632 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Alexandria | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 28% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 15% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 49.5 years | 42.9 years | 40.5 years |
46% women, 54% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women. Among residents 25 to 34, 66% are men (NY 50%).
| Alexandria | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.8% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.2% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.2% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.1% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.4% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.9% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16.9% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 11.5% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31.7% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.4% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.1% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.3% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.5% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,600, single groups can be off by several points
The Watertown weather station, 24 miles away, records that 116 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 98% of U.S. towns.
Alexandria has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Alexandria’s July high is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Alexandria has about as many jobs (1,179) as working residents, but only 369 people both live and work here. Jobs based here fell from 1,478 in 2013 to 1,179.
About one in 4 of Alexandria’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Alexandria fell to 1,179 in 2023, 299 fewer than in 2013. 7.7% of Alexandria workers work from home.
| Alexandria | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 7.7% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.1% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
7.4 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Keewaydin State Park, at 275 acres.
| Alexandria | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.9% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kring Point State Park | 0.3 mi | 48 |
| 2. Keewaydin State Park | — | 275 |
| 3. Collins Landing Wildlife Management Area | — | 23 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Alexandria beats the New York average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 40% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Alexandria.
| Alexandria | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 33% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Alexandria | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.9% | 17.2% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.5% | 7.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.4% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Homes are within reach (A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 20 miles. The median property tax bill is $2,883, against $6,582 across New York, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
None within 15 miles of Alexandria; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Alexandria residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
7 places in Alexandria on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New York, United States
Alexandria is a town in the Thousand Islands region of the U.S. state of New York, within Jefferson County. The town's population was 3,741 at the 2020 United States census. The town is named after Alexander LeRay, the son of an early developer. The village of Alexandria Bay is within the town. Alexandria is in the northern part of the county and is north of Watertown.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Alexandria.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandria | #229 | B+ | A− | — | B | B |
| Theresa | #492 | C+ | B+ | — | C+ | B |
| Redwood | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Orleans | #480 | C+ | B | — | C+ | B− |
| Hammond | — | — | B | — | C+ | D |
Hammond has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Alexandria, Theresa, Orleans and Hammond report no FBI crime data of their own. Redwood isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Alexandria with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Alexandria grades B+ overall, better than 72% of U.S. towns and #229 of 745 in New York. It grades B for health and B for schools.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $173,000, 67% below the New York typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
