Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Carlton gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $159K, 2.1 years of the Rochester metro’s $76K median household income. It grades B overall, 307th of 745 graded towns in New York. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. 14% of residents are under 18 in Carlton, where New York’s towns sit at 20% and U.S. towns at 22%. The biggest place to walk is Lakeside Beach State Park, 514 acres with 6.9 miles of trail.
Where Carlton beats most towns.
Where Carlton’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 Carlton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,168 in 1830, 2,994 in 2010. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1875 and 3 maps from 1897 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Carlton, 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 Carlton.
Carlton trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, is a second-home town and sends most of its workers to Rochester and beyond.
Carlton has 182 jobs for its 1,244 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
2.4% of Carlton working residents work locally. Jobs based in Carlton fell to 182 in 2023, 103 fewer than in 2013. The average trip to work in Carlton is 30 minutes.
| Carlton | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.4% | 10% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 75% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 11 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Carlton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Carlton | 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% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lakeside Beach State Park | 6.9 mi | 514 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Carlton has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Carlton’s July high is 79°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Carlton beats the New York average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. 15% of adults report frequent physical distress in Carlton.
| Carlton | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 34% | 35% |
| What stands out | Carlton | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 8.6% | 6% |
| More smokers | 15% | 11.3% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16.8% | 12.8% |
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 26 miles. At 2.1 years of the Rochester metro’s $76K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 86% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its A− for cost of living.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
None within 15 miles of Carlton; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 Carlton residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New York.
Town in New York, United States
Carlton is a town in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 2,994 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from Carleton, a shipbuilding district near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The Town of Carlton lies in the north part of the county, on the shore of Lake Ontario.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Carlton.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlton | #307 | B | A− | — | B− | B− |
| Gaines | #549 | C | B+ | — | C+ | C |
| Kendall | #99 | A | B | — | A− | B+ |
| Yates | #267 | B+ | A | — | B | C |
Carlton, Gaines, Kendall and Yates report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Carlton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Carlton grades B overall, better than 61% of U.S. towns and #307 of 745 in New York. It grades B− for health and B− for schools.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $159,000, 70% 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−.