Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Esopus grades C− overall, ranked 590th of 745 in New York, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. It has 35 miles of trail and natural-hazard risk is low. On the other side, the typical home is worth about $272K, 3.2 years of the Kingston metro’s $86K median household income. 15% of the land in Esopus is conserved, above both the New York town median (5.2%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Its National Register listings include Slabsides (John Burroughs Cabin) and Perrine's Bridge.
Where Esopus beats most towns.
Slabsides (John Burroughs Cabin) is one of 2 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 1,513 in 1820, 9,548 in 2020. The archive holds 27 old photos and papers going back to 1760 and 4 maps from 1898 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Esopus is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Esopus. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi MuseumUnited States Military Academy
5 mi National Historic SiteHome of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site102K visitors a year
3 mi National Historic SiteVanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site295K visitors a year5 mi MuseumFranklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
31 mi Stadium & arenaMichie Stadium
28 mi MuseumOlana State Historic SiteUnited States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain · Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site: Crunch, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site: Daderot, Public domain · Michie Stadium: John Pellino, Public domain · Olana State Historic Site: Netniks, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Esopus, 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 Esopus.
Shaupeneak Ridge, at 848 acres with 9.4 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Esopus’ density of trails stands at 0.8 miles per square mile, above both New York’s towns (0.4) and U.S. towns (0.4). Parks and preserves locally: 17, covering 2,392 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Shaupeneak Ridge | 9.4 mi | 848 |
| 2. High Banks Preserve | 3.1 mi | 260 |
| 3. John Burroughs | 2.8 mi | 210 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The public schools here belong to the Kingston City School District. Two of the 3 schools are below, and why each made the list. Enrollment at Esopus’s public school: 325 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert R Graves SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 325 | B+ |
| Mount Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 158 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Esopus has 681 jobs for its 3,533 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
The top destinations are Kingston (18%), New York (15%) and Ulster (6%). 22% of Esopus residents live below the poverty line. The median household income locally is $89,000.
| Esopus | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 22% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.8% | 10% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $89,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Esopus after 9 declared disasters, most recently in 2017. On expected storm and flood damage, Esopus sits below 78% of U.S. communities. Three fifths of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by tornadoes at 13%.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The share of adults in Esopus who feel lonely: 30%. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Esopus is ahead of New York on 4 and behind on 5. Two figures for adults locally: 37% have high blood pressure, 31% have obesity.
| Esopus | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 34% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 81% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | Esopus | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.8% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 13.6% | 17.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.4% | 6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 17° and about 59 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
16% of residents are under 18 in Esopus. People 65 and older are a quarter of residents (18% statewide); children under 18 are 16% of residents (21% statewide). In Esopus, the midpoint age is 48.8 years. New York has 40% of adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more; here it is 32%.
| Esopus | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 48.8 years | 42.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 16% | 20% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 25% | 20% | 18% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.8 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Esopus | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6.8% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.5% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.7% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.7% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.7% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 18.7% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.4% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.6% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.3% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31.5% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.3% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.8% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.2% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.9% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Esopus’ going rate for rent comes in at $1,471 a month. In Esopus, 83% of households own their home.
| Esopus | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,471 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 83% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
7 within 15 miles of the center of Esopus
About 3 of every 100 Esopus residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Esopus’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
10 places in Esopus on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New York, United States
Esopus ( eh-SOHP-əs) is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 9,548 at the 2020 census. The town was named after the local indigenous tribe and previously thought to mean "small river" in English. However, in the Lenape language, the word translates to "Wellspring of Creation". The Esopus people were one of the Lenape (Delaware) bands, belonging to a people who ranged from western Connecticut through lower New York, western Long Island, and parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania along the Delaware River. The town is on the west bank of the Hudson River south of the city of Kingston. Its center is in Port Ewen. US Route 9W passes along the eastern side of the tow…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Esopus.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esopus | #590 | C− | C− | — | C | B+ |
| Rosendale | #442 | C+ | D | A+ | C− | A− |
| Hyde Park | #290 | B | C | A | C | A− |
| Port Ewen | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ulster | #643 | C− | C− | C+ | C− | B+ |
| Kingston | #693 | D | D | C | C− | B− |
| Rhinebeck | #243 | B+ | D | — | A− | A |
| Lloyd | #294 | B | D | B+ | B | A |
Esopus and Rhinebeck report no FBI crime data of their own. Port Ewen isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Esopus with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Esopus grades C− overall, better than 25% of U.S. towns and #590 of 745 in New York. It grades B+ for health and C for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $272,000, 48% 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−.
