Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Elmira grades D− overall, 733rd of 745 graded towns in New York, mostly because of schools and safety. Its schools rank behind 93% of the state's. It reports more crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns, including 185 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. What it does well: natural-hazard risk is low. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 98% of U.S. towns, with 30 places on the National Register. 30% of residents live below the poverty line in Elmira, above both New York’s towns (9.5%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 26 of New York’s 1,213 towns score lower on health. Its National Register listings include Elmira College Old Campus and Chemung County Courthouse Complex.
Where Elmira beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Chemung County Courthouse Complex| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Finn Academy: an Elmira Charter School | K–6 | 411 |
| Parley Coburn School | 3–6 | 391 |
| Riverside Elementary | PK–2 | 375 |
Census counts: 15,863 in 1870, a peak of 49,716 in 1950, 26,523 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1860 and 3 maps from 1895 on.
30 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Elmira is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Elmira, 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 Elmira.
Elmira draws workers from Horseheads and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has seen reported crime rise by about half.
At 2.1 years of the Elmira metro’s $64K median household income, the typical home (about $134K) costs less against local pay than in 86% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $2,918, against $6,582 across New York, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
In Elmira, 58% of renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent. Its midpoint rent stands at $909 a month. A home in Elmira typically sold within 74 days of listing.
| Elmira | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 50% | 75% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 58% | 49% | 48% |
| Median rent | $909 a month | $1,103 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Elmira City School District. Two of its 8 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. 6 public schools serve Elmira, with 2,135 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ernie Davis AcademyLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 844 | D− |
| Elmira Psychiatric CenterLargest public high schoolGrades 8–12 | Grades 8–12 | 4 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
12,606 jobs are based in Elmira, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 18.7 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Elmira’s typical journey to work is 19 minutes. About one in three of the town’s working residents works in town. Employers in Elmira shed 2,664 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 12,606. The top destinations are Horseheads (13%), Big Flats (5%) and Corning (5%).
| Elmira | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 31% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $43,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 10% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes rose from 452 to 1,353 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Property crime runs at 44.5 per 1,000 residents, 3 times the New York rate, most of it theft.
Among 265 New York towns, just 6 have a higher rate of thefts and burglaries than Elmira.
| Elmira | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.1 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 44.5 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 94% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects in Elmira, 67% come from inland flooding and 11% from tornadoes. Paid flood insurance claims here since 1978: 23.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 3,372 U.S. towns with household incomes like Elmira’s, it is healthier than 57%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
For adults in Elmira, the share who binge drink is 16%. Among 755 New York towns, just 5 have a higher share of adults who smoke cigarettes than Elmira. Two figures for adults here: 26% worry about having enough food, 21% report frequent mental distress.
| Elmira | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 13% | 14% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 16% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Elmira | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 20.3% | 11.3% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 22.4% | 12.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.2% | 6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
3.3 miles of trail wind through 21 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Eldridge Park, at 60 acres.
| Elmira | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 6.7% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Eldridge Park | 0.7 mi | 60 |
| 2. Brand Park | 0.5 mi | 17 |
| 3. Grove Park | 0.3 mi | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
A winter brings about 42 inches of snow, with January nights at 16° and July afternoons at 83°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Elmira. Close and well known come first.
39 mi LakeSeneca Lake
13 mi MuseumCorning Museum of Glass400K visitors a year
20 mi State parkWatkins Glen State Park
33 mi State parkTaughannock Falls State Park
30 mi Stadium & arenaSchoellkopf Field
in town Theme parkEldridge ParkSeneca Lake: RochesterNY, Public domain · Corning Museum of Glass: User:Stilfehler, CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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 · Schoellkopf Field: Alex Sergeev, (www.asergeev.com) Originally uploaded by en:User:Cornell010, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Eldridge Park: Whitley, J. H. -- Photographer, Public domain
3 within 15 miles of the center of Elmira
About 8 of every 100 Elmira residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New York.
Where Elmira’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
30 places in Elmira on the National Register of Historic Places.
47 notable people were born in Elmira.
City in New York, United States
Elmira () is a city in and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 census, down from 29,200 at the 2010 census, a decline of more than 7 percent. The City of Elmira is in the south-central part of the county, surrounded on three sides by the Town of Elmira. It is in the Southern Tier of New York, a short distance north of the Pennsylvania state line. The city was the site of the Elmira Prison, a prisoner-of-war camp that held over 12,000 captured Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War. Elmira College is locat…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Elmira.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elmira | #733 | D− | C+ | D | D | C− |
| Elmira | #536 | C | C+ | A+ | D | C− |
| Southport | #688 | D | B− | — | D | C+ |
| West Elmira | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Southport reports no FBI crime data of its own. West Elmira isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Elmira with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Elmira grades D− overall, better than 3% of U.S. towns and #733 of 745 in New York. It grades C− for health, D for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 2.1 years of the area's median household income ($63,716 across the Elmira, NY metro area).
47 notable people were born here, including Eileen Collins and Tommy Hilfiger.
