Forest HomeNY
The town, settled in 1876, counts 1,303 residents.
Is Forest Home a good place to live?
97% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Forest Home, above both the New York town median (32%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). No town among the 759 in New York we compare has a lower share of working residents who work in town than Forest Home. Forest Home’s trail density is 11.5 miles per square mile, against 0.4 in New York’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. We don’t grade Forest Home yet; the figures below are still real.
1,303 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Moving to Forest Home: who provides what
Forest Home is unincorporated, so Tompkins County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Forest Home.
Most of Forest Home’s workers commute out: the town has 0.1 jobs for each of them
20% of workers work remotely from home in Forest Home. Commuting out is the norm in the town: 1% of working residents work locally. The top destinations are Ithaca (24%), New York (12%) and Syracuse (4%). Half commute less than 73 miles.
| Forest Home | Typical New York town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 20% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2024 · ACS
Forest Home has snowy winters and pleasant summers
The peak summer temperature here in Forest Home is 82°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Conserved land covers 14.9% of Forest Home
Trails total 2.3 miles in 2 parks and preserves. 26 acres of Forest Home lie in its parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cornell Botanic Gardens | 0.8 mi | 9 |
| 2. Mundy Wildflower Garden | 0.7 mi | 17 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
A smaller share of adults in Forest Home have high blood pressure than in the typical New York or U.S. town
The share of adults in Forest Home who smoke cigarettes is 9.9%. This New York town beats the New York average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9.
| Forest Home | Typical New York town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 33% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 34% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 32% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | Forest Home | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 2.9% | 7.7% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 1.5% | 3.4% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.4% | 12.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Natural hazards: moderate risk in Forest Home, mostly inland flooding
Storm and flood damage is expected to run lower than in 56% of U.S. communities. 62% of Forest Home’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by tornadoes at 16%.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A smaller share of households live in a home they own in Forest Home than in most of New York or the rest of the country
In Forest Home, the typical rent is $1,379 a month.
| Forest Home | Typical New York town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 35% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,379 a month | $1,101 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Seneca Lake and 24 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Forest Home. Close and well known come first.
26 mi LakeSeneca Lake
in town Stadium & arenaSchoellkopf Field
20 mi LakeCayuga Lake
9 mi State parkTaughannock Falls State Park
in town MuseumHerbert F. Johnson Museum of Art80K visitors a year
21 mi State parkWatkins Glen State ParkPhoto credits
Seneca Lake: RochesterNY, Public domain · Schoellkopf Field: Alex Sergeev, (www.asergeev.com) Originally uploaded by en:User:Cornell010, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cayuga Lake: The original uploader was Cornellrockey at English Wikipedia. Later versions we, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Taughannock Falls State Park: Michael C. Rygel, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art: Dmadeo, 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
Everything we know about Forest Home
Colleges nearby
3 within 15 miles of the center of Forest Home
College town 37 of every 100 Forest Home residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
99% of working residents leave Forest Home for work
Where Forest Home’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2024
About Forest Home
CDP in New York, United States
Forest Home is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Ithaca, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, Forest Home had a population of 1,168. It is located immediately east of the Cornell University campus.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 0.3 sq mi
- Elevation
- 922 ft
Questions about Forest Home
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Forest Home, NY a good place to live?
We don’t grade Forest Home yet; the figures below are still real.