Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Copake is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C+ overall, 491st among New York's 745 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: residents are healthier than 67% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its lowest everyday mark is in incomes: the median household income is $114K, and 14% of residents live below the poverty line. A typical home there costs about $487K, 6 years of the Hudson area’s $82K median household income. Copake’s median age is 59.3 years, above both New York’s towns (42.9 years) and U.S. towns (40.5 years). Its National Register listings include Copake Iron Works Historic District and Copake Grange Hall. Copake is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 75% of U.S. towns.
Where Copake beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,675 in 1830, a low of 1,114 in 1920, 3,346 in 2020. The archive holds 23 old photos and papers going back to 1873 and 2 maps from 1902 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Copake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Copake. Close and well known come first.
31 mi National Historic SiteHome of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site102K visitors a year
16 mi MuseumOlana State Historic Site
15 mi MuseumNorman Rockwell Museum
19 mi TheatreTanglewood
40 mi MountainMount Greylock
30 mi National Historic SiteVanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site295K visitors a yearHome of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site: Crunch, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Olana State Historic Site: Netniks, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Norman Rockwell Museum: User:Rmrfstar, CC BY 2.5 · Tanglewood: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site: Daderot, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Copake, 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 Copake.
Copake is a second-home town and owes part of its health edge to its incomes, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New York.
21 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Harlem Valley Rail Trail, 626 acres with 3.1 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Taconic State Park – Copake Falls Area | 10.9 mi | 1,901 |
| 2. Taconic State Park – Rudd Pond Area | 3.2 mi | 784 |
| 3. Harlem Valley Rail Trail | 3.1 mi | 626 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Taconic Hills Central School District. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Taconic Hillsjunior/Senior High School, with 471 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taconic Hills Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 503 | C+ |
| Taconic Hillsjunior/Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 471 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
30.5% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, against 3.5% statewide, which helps explain the older median age.
People 65 and older are 32% of residents (18% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 11% of residents (23% statewide). 12% of residents are under 18 in Copake. Copake has lost 3.8% of its people since 2020, down to 3,205 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Copake | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 12% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 32% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.7 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Copake | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5.7% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.9% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 2.4% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.8% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.7% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.8% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 25.3% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 19.1% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 13.3% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12.7% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 38.1% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 9.2% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 3% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 21.1% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,200, single groups can be off by several points
The average trip to work in Copake is 32 minutes. Since 2013, Copake has added 81 jobs, to 521 in 2023. 15% of Copake workers work from home.
| Copake | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $114,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 15% | 12% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 6,668 U.S. towns with household incomes like Copake’s, it is less healthy than 63%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Copake beats the New York average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5.
| Copake | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 21% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Copake | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10.2% | 14.5% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.8% | 17.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Copake has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 16° and about 50 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 6 years of the Hudson area’s $82K median household income, the typical home (about $487K) costs more against local pay than in 82% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living.
Typical home values rose 9.7% in the year to September 2026.
| Copake | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 89% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,204 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 52% of U.S. communities. Since 1984, 17 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Copake.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Copake
About 2 of every 100 Copake residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Copake’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
8 places in Copake on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New York, United States
Copake is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 3,346 at the 2020 US census, down from 3,615 at the 2010 census. The town derives its name from a lake, which was known to the natives as Cook-pake, or Ack-kook-peek, meaning "Snake Pond". Copake is on the eastern border of the county. Taconic State Park is along the eastern edge of the town.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Copake.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copake | #491 | C+ | C+ | — | C+ | B+ |
| Hillsdale | — | — | C− | — | C+ | A− |
| Taghkanic | — | — | C− | — | C− | B+ |
| Ancram | — | — | C− | — | C+ | B+ |
Hillsdale, Taghkanic and Ancram have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Copake, Hillsdale, Taghkanic and Ancram report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Copake with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Copake grades C+ overall, better than 37% of U.S. towns and #491 of 745 in New York. It grades B+ for health and C+ for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
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