Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Corning's standout: it has 5 miles of trail. Overall it grades C, 522nd of 745 graded towns in New York. It is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 96% of U.S. towns and natural-hazard risk is low. Its weakest subject is safety: it reports more crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns, including 17 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2024. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 98% of U.S. towns, with 8 places on the National Register. Corning’s trail density is 1.6 miles per square mile, where New York’s towns sit at 0.4 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Only 67 of New York’s 1,216 towns score higher on history. Denison Park, at 48 acres with 1.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Corning beats most towns.
Census counts: 4,018 in 1870, a peak of 17,684 in 1950, 10,551 in 2020. The archive holds 59 old photos and papers going back to 1869 and 4 maps from 1914 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 Corning is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Corning, 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 Corning.
Corning draws workers from Erwin and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has homes that are cheap against local pay.
Corning sits against 5.2% in New York’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns on this measure. 5.2 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Denison Park | 1.5 mi | 48 |
| 2. Fall Brook Park | 0.8 mi | 11 |
| 3. McKinney Park | 0.4 mi | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Corning City School District.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| William E Severn Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 404 | C− |
| Corning-Painted Post High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,524 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
8,725 jobs are based in Corning, 1.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 17.7 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
About one in 4 of Corning’s working residents works in town. Corning’s average trip to work is 18 minutes. Since 2013, Corning has added 962 jobs, to 8,725 in 2023.
| Corning | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 28% | 10% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The property crime rate in Corning is 23.8 per 1,000 residents. Corning reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 80% report less.
| Corning | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 23.8 per 1,000 residents | 9.3 | 11.5 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 1.6 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.7 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 9 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Corning.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 9,347 U.S. towns with household incomes like Corning’s, it is healthier than 94%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income.
19% of Corning adults binge drink.
| Corning | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.9% | 11% | 12% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Corning | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.5% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 13.2% | 17.2% |
| More adults with depression | 22% | 17.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Corning has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 15° and about 47 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 29% of residents (23% statewide). 41% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Corning.
| Corning | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 18% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 41% | 32% | 29% |
| Median age | 37.8 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 18% | 20% | 18% |
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.3 points). Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women. Median age: women 38.6, men 35.8.
| Corning | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.5% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.9% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.3% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 20% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.7% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.9% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.1% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.4% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.6% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.5% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 15.3% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.3% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 20.2% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
At 2.4 years of the Corning area’s $66K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 77% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living.
The median sale price was $180,000 in May 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Corning. Close and well known come first.
in town MuseumCorning Museum of Glass400K visitors a year
36 mi LakeSeneca Lake
18 mi State parkWatkins Glen State Park
in town MuseumRockwell Museum
36 mi State parkTaughannock Falls State Park
36 mi Stadium & arenaSchoellkopf FieldCorning Museum of Glass: User:Stilfehler, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Seneca Lake: RochesterNY, Public domain · Watkins Glen State Park: Flickr user: Peter Rivera Stamford, Connecticut https://www.flickr.com/people/ri, CC BY 2.0 · Rockwell Museum: W.rose.v, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Taughannock Falls State Park: Michael C. Rygel, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Schoellkopf Field: Alex Sergeev, (www.asergeev.com) Originally uploaded by en:User:Cornell010, CC BY-SA 3.0
3 within 15 miles of the center of Corning
About 3 of every 100 Corning residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Corning’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
8 places in Corning on the National Register of Historic Places.
24 notable people were born in Corning.
City in New York, United States
Corning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,551 at the 2020 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company that developed the community. The city is best known as the headquarters of Fortune 500 company Corning Incorporated, formerly Corning Glass Works, a manufacturer of glass and ceramic products for industrial, scientific and technical uses. Corning is roughly equidistant from New York City and Toronto, being about 220 miles (350 km) from both.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Corning.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corning | #522 | C | C | C− | C+ | B+ |
| Riverside | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| South Corning | — | — | C+ | — | C+ | A |
South Corning has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. South Corning reports no FBI crime data of its own. Riverside isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Corning with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Corning grades C overall, better than 33% of U.S. towns and #522 of 745 in New York. It grades B+ for health, C− for safety and C+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
The typical home is worth about $158,000, 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 C.
24 notable people were born here, including Margaret Sanger and Samuel Sevian.
