Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Corning is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C+ overall, 459th among New York's 745 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: residents are healthier than 79% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: homes are expensive, about $168K for a typical one and 2.5 times the Corning area’s $66K median household income. Only 52 of New York’s 1,187 towns score lower on civic life. Corning is home to SUNY Corning Community College. Corning’s average trip to work is 20 minutes, against 25 minutes in New York’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns.
Where Corning beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Corning is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 4,018 in 1870, a peak of 17,684 in 1950, 10,551 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1869 and 4 maps from 1914 on.
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 has less no health insurance than most of New York, but it has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
Its widest gap with New York is no health insurance: 5% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 7.9% statewide.
19% of adults binge drink in Corning. Corning beats the New York average on 9 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 31% of adults feel lonely in Corning.
| Corning | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 19% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 35% |
| What stands out | Corning | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.5% | 17.2% |
| More adults with depression | 21.6% | 17.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Corning City School District. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calvin U Smith Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 262 | C |
| Corning Painted Post High School Learning CenterLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 24 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Adults 18 to 34 are 13% of residents (23% statewide); children under 18 are 25% of residents (21% statewide). 38% of Corning adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. Corning has lost 4% of its people since 2020, down to 5,734 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Corning | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 25% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 32% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| Median age | 41.6 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
53% women, 47% men
About 87 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.7 points). Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Corning | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.7% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 14.1% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.9% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 6.3% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.7% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.6% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.5% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.1% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.9% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.5% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.8% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.9% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.9% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 20.1% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Corning has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 15° and about 47 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 65% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 8 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Corning.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
5.2 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Houghton Land Preserve, at 189 acres with 2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Corning’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Corning | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.4% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Houghton Land Preserve | 2 mi | 189 |
| 2. Spencer Crest Nature Center | — | 166 |
| 3. Denison Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Jobs based here fell from 5,181 in 2013 to 3,431. The average commute for its 2,580 working residents takes 20.3 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Most working residents leave Corning for work: only 12% work in town. Jobs based in Corning fell to 3,431 in 2023, 1,750 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Corning (21%), Erwin (12%) and Elmira (8%).
| Corning | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 8.3% | 12% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $88,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 8.2% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Corning. Close and well known come first.
2 mi MuseumCorning Museum of Glass400K visitors a year
36 mi LakeSeneca Lake
17 mi State parkWatkins Glen State Park
35 mi State parkTaughannock Falls State Park
2 mi MuseumRockwell Museum
34 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 · Taughannock Falls State Park: Michael C. Rygel, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Rockwell Museum: W.rose.v, CC BY-SA 4.0 · 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 5 of every 100 Corning residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
20 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)
5 towns share a border with Corning.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corning | #459 | C+ | C+ | — | C+ | A− |
| Erwin | #487 | C+ | D | — | C+ | A− |
| Big Flats | #384 | B− | C | — | B | B+ |
| Hornby | — | — | B− | — | C+ | B+ |
| Caton | — | — | B+ | — | C+ | B+ |
| Painted Post | — | — | C | — | C+ | A− |
Hornby, Caton and Painted Post have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Corning, Erwin, Big Flats, Hornby, Caton and Painted Post report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Corning with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Corning grades C+ overall, better than 41% of U.S. towns and #459 of 745 in New York. It grades A− 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+.
20 notable people were born here, including Margaret Sanger and Samuel Sevian.
