Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Athens is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 642nd among New York's 745 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: it is healthier than 65% of U.S. towns. Expect to pay for it: the typical home is worth about $275K, 3.5 years of the county’s $78K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 96% of U.S. towns, with 10 places on the National Register. 12% of residents are under 18 in Athens, where New York’s towns sit at 20% and U.S. towns at 22%. Its National Register listings include Newkirk Homestead and Athens Lower Village Historic District.
Where Athens beats most towns.
Census counts: 2,030 in 1820, 3,916 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1889 and 4 maps from 1893 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Athens is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Athens, 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 Athens.
Athens is a second-home town, is healthier than Coxsackie and its other neighbors and sends most of its workers to Catskill and beyond.
Athens has 362 jobs for its 1,588 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
The top destinations are Catskill (13%), Albany (9%) and New York (9%). Most people who work leave Athens to do it: just 5% work in town. In Athens, the typical journey to work is 29 minutes. For half of commuters, work is under 24 miles away.
| Athens | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 16% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.6% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.5% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its one school is below. 177 students attend Athens’s public school.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edward J Arthur Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 177 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
21.6% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, against 3.5% statewide, which helps explain the older median age.
Athens: 39% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. People 65 and older are 26% of residents (18% statewide); children under 18 are 12% of residents (21% statewide). The age of the median resident for Athens comes to 52.2 years.
| Athens | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 52.2 years | 42.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 26% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 39% | 32% | 29% |
56% women, 44% men
About 79 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.8 points). Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Athens | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5.4% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.3% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.4% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.1% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.4% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 18.2% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 19.7% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.6% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.9% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.4% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 11.6% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.7% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.3% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 18.1% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,900, single groups can be off by several points
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
That grade tops all 6 graded neighbors; Coxsackie (B) comes closest.
The share of adults in Athens who had a checkup this year: 82%. CDC measures, 32 in all: Athens beats New York on 5 and trails on 4. 15% of adults in Athens report frequent mental distress; 14% report frequent physical distress.
| Athens | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 81% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 14% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 37% | 36% |
| What stands out | Athens | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.9% | 17.2% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10.9% | 14.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.4% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The trail density in Athens is 0.2 miles per square mile. Trails run 4.4 miles in 5 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Middle Ground Flats Unique Area, at 322 acres.
| Athens | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.9% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Brandow Point Unique Area | 1.4 mi | 62 |
| 2. Cohotate Preserve | 0.7 mi | 53 |
| 3. Middle Ground Flats Unique Area | — | 322 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Compared with 51% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in Athens is higher. Paid flood insurance claims locally since 1996: 3. FEMA puts 78% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 9% to hurricanes. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Athens after 7 declared disasters, most recently in 2017.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Athens. Close and well known come first.
4 mi MuseumOlana State Historic Site
35 mi National Historic SiteHome of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site102K visitors a year
12 mi WaterfallKaaterskill Falls
32 mi National Historic SiteVanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site295K visitors a year
29 mi TheatreTanglewood
27 mi MuseumNorman Rockwell MuseumOlana State Historic Site: Netniks, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site: Crunch, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kaaterskill Falls: Mwanner, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site: Daderot, Public domain · Tanglewood: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Norman Rockwell Museum: User:Rmrfstar, CC BY 2.5
1 within 15 miles of the center of Athens
About 3 of every 100 Athens residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Athens’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
10 places in Athens on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Athens.
Town in New York, United States
Athens is a town in Greene County, New York, United States. The population was 3,916 at the 2020 census. The town of Athens has a village also called Athens. The town is near the eastern edge of the county.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Athens.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | #642 | C− | C− | — | C | B |
| Catskill | #629 | C− | C | — | C | B− |
| Cairo | #493 | C+ | C | A+ | C− | B− |
| Coxsackie | #586 | C | C+ | — | C | B |
| Greenport | #703 | D | D | — | C− | B− |
| Athens | — | — | C− | — | C | A− |
| South Cairo | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hudson | #719 | D | D | C+ | C− | C+ |
Athens has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Athens, Catskill, Coxsackie, Greenport and Athens report no FBI crime data of their own. South Cairo isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Athens with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Athens grades C− overall, better than 18% of U.S. towns and #642 of 745 in New York. It grades B for health and C for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
4 notable people were born here, including Crane Wilbur and Dernell Every.
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