Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Because it does well by almost any measure. Cornwall earns an A, 59th among New York's 745 graded towns. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 98% of U.S. towns, CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 89% of the country, and its public schools beat 87% of New York towns on state tests and graduation. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $528K, 5.4 years of the Kiryas Joel metro’s $98K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 97% of U.S. towns, with 36 places on the National Register. 38% of the land in Cornwall is conserved, against 5.2% in New York’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Amelia Barr House and Camp Olmsted. On the outdoors, just 14 of New York’s 1,216 towns do better.
Where Cornwall beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1685, comes before those of 95% of the New York towns we grade with a known year. Its 36 National Register listings are more than in 95% of New York towns with a listing.
Census counts: 4,225 in 1790, a low of 1,648 in 1800, 12,884 in 2020. The archive holds 30 old photos and papers going back to 1820 and 6 maps from 1902 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Cornwall is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for safety (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 11%), so the A overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Cornwall. Close and well known come first.
Big draw6 mi MuseumUnited States Military Academy
Big draw39 mi MuseumThe Cloisters
5 mi Stadium & arenaMichie Stadium
in town MuseumStorm King Art Center
29 mi LandmarkFerncliff Cemetery
25 mi National Historic SiteHome of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site102K visitors a yearUnited States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain · The Cloisters: Paweł Drozd on Wiki Drozdpl cropped by Beyond My Ken (talk) 17:05, 27 December 2, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Michie Stadium: John Pellino, Public domain · Storm King Art Center: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ferncliff Cemetery: Anthony22 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site: Crunch, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Cornwall, 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 Cornwall.
Cornwall keeps more of its land conserved than most of New York, has better schools than Fishkill or any other neighbor and has less food insecurity than most of New York.
Its 6,788 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 98% of New York towns. Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #13 of 758 in New York.
Trails run 66 miles in 12 parks and preserves. Schunnemunk State Park, at 2,318 acres with 15.4 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Black Rock Forest | 20.2 mi | 2,003 |
| 2. Schunnemunk State Park | 15.4 mi | 2,318 |
| 3. Storm King State Park | 13 mi | 1,333 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
That grade is the best School Grade on its borders; Fishkill (B) is next. It comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $528K.
The largest public high school is Cornwall Central High School, with 1,010 students. Public schools: the Cornwall Central School District. Below: Three of its 6 schools, each with why it was picked.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cornwall Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 905 | B− |
| Cornwall Central High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,010 | A+ |
| Willow Avenue Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 236 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 24 to 9 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 0 reported in 2025, 0 per 1,000 residents.
In Cornwall, the property crime rate is 0.9 per 1,000 residents, below both the New York town median (7.6) and the median of U.S. towns (9.9). This New York town recorded no violent offenses.
| Cornwall | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.9 per 1,000 residents | 7.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its widest gap with New York is food insecurity: 11% of its 8,212 adults worry about having enough food, against 17.2% statewide.
The share of adults in Cornwall who get no exercise outside work: 21%. Of 32 CDC measures, Cornwall beats the New York average on 15 and trails it on 1. In Cornwall, 9.7% of adults smoke cigarettes, and 14% report frequent mental distress.
| Cornwall | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 21% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.7% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Cornwall | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11% | 17.2% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.9% | 12.8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.6% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
For Cornwall, the income of the median household is $115,000. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in the town rose by 667, to 3,124. Cornwall: 16% of workers do their job from home. The top destinations are New York (16%), New Windsor (7%) and Newburgh (5%).
| Cornwall | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $115,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 16% | 12% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The peak summer temperature for Cornwall comes to 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Nearly half of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Cornwall. Adults 18 to 34 are 18% of residents (23% statewide). 12,577 people lived in Cornwall by the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate, 2.4% fewer than in 2020.
| Cornwall | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 49% | 32% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 42.3 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.8 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Cornwall | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.8% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.7% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.7% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.1% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.3% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.8% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.6% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.1% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.9% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.8% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 15.6% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.3% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.9% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.7% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 25.7% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
29 flood insurance claims have been paid in Cornwall since 1979. Compared with 60% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in the town is lower. FEMA puts 70% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 9% to hurricanes. Federal aid has come to Cornwall households in 11 declared disasters; the latest was in 2023.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Homes sold in Cornwall spent a median 73 days on the market. The typical Cornwall home is worth about $528,000, up 1.9% in a year, close to the New York typical home. Its rent at the middle of the market is $1,803 a month.
| Cornwall | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,803 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 73% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
6 within 15 miles of the center of Cornwall
About 5 of every 100 Cornwall residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
37.9% of the town is conserved land, across 12 parks and preserves.
36 places in Cornwall on the National Register of Historic Places.
11 notable people were born in Cornwall.
Town in New York, United States
Cornwall is a town in Orange County, New York, United States, approximately 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City on the western shore of the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was at 12,884. Cornwall has become a bedroom community for cities in the Hudson Valley and Greater New York metropolitan areas; commuter rail service to North Jersey and New York City is available via the Salisbury Mills–Cornwall train station, operated by NJ Transit on behalf of Metro-North Railroad, and the town is located less than an hour from the George Washington Bridge with access to major commuter routes such as the New York State Thruway and the Palisades Parkway. Cornwall also has a notew…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Cornwall.
At #59 in NY, it grades higher overall than all 5 graded towns on its borders; Highlands (A−) comes closest.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cornwall | #59 | A | D | A+ | A | A |
| New Windsor | #454 | C+ | D | B | C− | A− |
| Highlands | #173 | A− | D | A+ | B | — |
| Blooming Grove | #319 | B | D | A− | B | B+ |
| Woodbury · Woodbury | #305 | B | D | — | B | A |
| Fishkill | #335 | B | D | — | B | A |
| Vails Gate | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| West Point | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Woodbury and Fishkill report no FBI crime data of their own. Vails Gate and West Point aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Woodbury and Woodbury are one community, graded once. Compare Cornwall with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Cornwall grades A overall, better than 94% of U.S. towns and #59 of 745 in New York. It grades A for health, A+ for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes, by national standards. Cornwall reports less crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns, an A+ Safety Grade: 0 violent and 9 property crimes in 2025.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
11 notable people were born here, including Bonnie Blair and Rob Cohen.
