Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Belfast’s best subject grades are an A for cost of living and an A− for history; its weakest is a D for hazard risk. Only 36 of New York’s 1,216 towns score lower on hazard risk. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 84% of U.S. towns. On cost of living, just 37 of New York’s 1,215 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Coyle Hill State Forest, at 863 acres. Belfast has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Belfast beats most towns.
Rail and Titsworth Canal WarehouseWhere Belfast’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 Belfast is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 743 in 1830, 1,656 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1937 and 4 maps from 1906 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Belfast, 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 Belfast.
At $568 a month, Belfast’s median rent is below both the New York town median ($1,101 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). Typical home values rose 5% in the year to September 2026. 85% of households own their home in Belfast.
| Belfast | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $568 a month | $1,101 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 85% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Belfast Central School District. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Belfast School, with 318 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vallewview Amish School PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades 1–8 | Grades 1–8 | 32 | – |
| Belfast SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 318 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
At 81 of 100, Belfast’s FEMA risk score is against 31 of 100 in New York’s towns and 44 of 100 across U.S. towns.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Belfast for work: only 11% work in town. Belfast’s average trip to work is 29 minutes. The top destinations are Wellsville (9%), Amity (6%) and Cuba (6%).
| Belfast | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Belfast has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Belfast is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Belfast beats the New York average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 16% of Belfast adults report frequent physical distress.
| Belfast | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 34% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 33% | 35% |
| What stands out | Belfast | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.3% | 6% |
| More smokers | 16.4% | 11.3% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16.8% | 12.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Belfast | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.4% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Genesee Valley Greenway State Park | 5.2 mi | 101 |
| 2. Coyle Hill State Forest | — | 863 |
| 3. Rush Creek State Forest | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Belfast
About 3 of every 100 Belfast residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
3 notable people were born in Belfast.
Town in New York, United States
Belfast (/ˈbɛl.fæst/ or /bəlˈfɑːst/) is a town in Allegany County, New York, United States. The town is in what is called the Southern Tier of the state. Its population was 1,656 at the 2020 census. It was named in 1825 after the city of Belfast, Ireland, because it had numerous residents of Scots-Irish ancestry from that area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Belfast.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | — | — | A | — | B+ | C+ |
| Caneadea | — | — | C+ | — | B+ | B− |
| New Hudson | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Friendship | — | — | B | A+ | C− | C |
| Angelica | — | — | A | — | C− | C+ |
Belfast, Caneadea, Friendship and Angelica have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Belfast, Caneadea and Angelica report no FBI crime data of their own. New Hudson isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Belfast with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
3 notable people were born here, including Miles D. McAlester and Hiram Edgerton.
