Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Barre’s best subject grade is an A for history; its weakest is a D for walkability. 23% of residents live below the poverty line in Barre, where New York’s towns sit at 9.5% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Only 51 of New York’s 1,216 towns score lower on walkability. Only 53 of New York’s 1,216 towns score lower on the outdoors. Skinner-Tinkham House is on the National Register of Historic Places. Barre's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 83% of U.S. towns. Barre has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Barre beats most towns.
Where Barre’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Barre is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,767 in 1820, a peak of 7,228 in 1860, 2,025 in 2010. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 1831 and 3 maps from 1897 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Barre, 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 Barre.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 90% of U.S. communities. Since 2021, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Barre.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Barre for work: only 5% work in town. At 21 minutes, Barre’s average trip to work is below both New York’s towns (25 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). Since 2013, Barre has added 43 jobs, to 204 in 2023.
| Barre | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 6.5% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.7% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $74,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Barre beats the New York average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 17% of adults smoke cigarettes in Barre.
| Barre | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 25% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Barre | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 17.2% | 11.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.7% | 6% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.2% | 12.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Barre has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Barre is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
0.4 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. Among 741 New York towns, just 5 have a lower share of conserved land than Barre. The biggest park or preserve is Barre Town Park, at 40 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Barre Town Park | 0.1 mi | 40 |
| 2. Oak Orchard Wildlife Management Area | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
88% of Barre households own their home.
| Barre | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 88% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,158 a month | $1,101 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Barre
About 1 of every 100 Barre residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Town in New York, United States
Barre is a town in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 2,025 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Barre, Massachusetts. The Town of Barre is on the southern boundary of the county.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Barre.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barre | — | — | B | — | C+ | C |
| Albion | #564 | C | B+ | — | C+ | C |
| Clarendon | #529 | C | B− | — | C+ | B |
| Oakfield | #468 | C+ | B− | — | B− | B− |
| Elba | — | — | B+ | — | C+ | B− |
| Shelby | #376 | B− | A− | — | C+ | B− |
| Alabama | — | — | A− | — | B− | B |
Barre, Elba and Alabama have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Barre, Albion, Clarendon, Oakfield, Elba, Shelby and Alabama report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Barre with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
The typical home is worth about $136,000, 74% 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 B.
