Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Fayette is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, ranked 625th of 745 in New York, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $78K. Expect to pay for it: the typical home is worth about $174K, 2.6 years of the Seneca Falls area’s $68K median household income. Its National Register listings include Rose Hill and Christ Evangelical and Reformed Church. Fayette’s average trip to work is 21 minutes, against 25 minutes in New York’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Canoga Marsh Wildlife Management Area, at 102 acres.
Where Fayette beats most towns.
Rose Hill is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 2,869 in 1820, 3,617 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2009 and 3 maps from 1902 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Fayette is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fayette, 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 Fayette.
Its public schools are run by the Waterloo Central School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skoi-Yase SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 345 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Jobs based here fell from 1,676 in 2013 to 748. The average commute for its 1,343 working residents takes 21.1 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Most working residents leave Fayette for work: only 8% work in town. Since 2013, Fayette has lost 928 jobs, to 748 in 2023. The top destinations are Seneca Falls (15%), Waterloo (12%) and Geneva (11%).
| Fayette | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 8% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $78,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Fayette has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 17° and about 57 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
7.9 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. Fayette’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Fayette | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.5% | 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. Bishop Nature Preserve | 0.6 mi | 30 |
| 2. Seneca Lake State Park | 0.3 mi | 28 |
| 3. Canoga Marsh Wildlife Management Area | — | 102 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Fayette beats the New York average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 34% of Fayette adults feel lonely.
| Fayette | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 32% | 33% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 25% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Fayette | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 12.3% | 14.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.2% | 6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 50% of U.S. communities. Since 1983, 9 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Fayette.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fayette. Close and well known come first.
13 mi LakeSeneca Lake
13 mi LakeCayuga Lake
39 mi Stadium & arenaJMA Wireless Dome
21 mi MountainCumorah
32 mi State parkWatkins Glen State Park
24 mi State parkTaughannock Falls State ParkSeneca Lake: RochesterNY, Public domain · Cayuga Lake: The original uploader was Cornellrockey at English Wikipedia. Later versions we, CC BY-SA 2.5 · JMA Wireless Dome: Jimhoward03, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cumorah: Hillcumorahpageantstage.jpg: la salebete derivative work: Eustress (talk), CC BY-SA 2.0 · 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
3 within 15 miles of the center of Fayette
About 2 of every 100 Fayette residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Fayette’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Fayette on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Fayette.
Town in New York, United States
Fayette is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 3,617 at the 2020 census. The town is in the north-central part of the county and is southeast of Geneva, New York. A post office is located in the Town of Fayette although the area is covered by four postal districts. Only the immediate hamlet of Fayette uses a ZIP Code of 13065 for Fayette. Addresses in the eastern section have a ZIP Code of 13148 for Seneca Falls. The central section of the town has a ZIP Code of 13165 for Waterloo, while addresses in the western section have a ZIP Code of 14456 for Geneva.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Fayette.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fayette | #625 | C− | C | — | C− | B− |
| Geneva | #561 | C | B | — | D | B+ |
| Waterloo | #659 | D | B− | — | D | B− |
| Varick | — | — | C− | — | C | C |
| Springport | — | — | B | — | B | B+ |
| Seneca Falls | #608 | C− | B | C | C− | B− |
| Waterloo | #666 | D | B− | — | D | C+ |
Varick and Springport have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Fayette, Geneva, Waterloo, Varick, Springport and Waterloo report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Fayette with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Fayette grades C− overall, better than 20% of U.S. towns and #625 of 745 in New York. It grades B− for health and C− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
3 notable people were born here, including Robert Seldon Duncanson and Stephen V. Harkness.
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