Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Fort Plain’s best subject grade is an A− for history; its weakest is a D for hazard risk. On hazard risk, just 27 of New York’s 1,216 towns do worse. Fort Plain is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 73% of U.S. towns. On health, just 78 of New York’s 1,213 towns do worse. The biggest park or preserve is Wiles Park, at 28 acres. Fort Plain has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Fort Plain beats most towns.
2,322 counted in 2010 and 1,930 in 2020; an estimated 2,005 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Fort Plain is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,797 in 1870, a peak of 2,935 in 1950, 1,930 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1868 and 3 maps from 1898 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fort Plain, 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 Fort Plain.
At $709 a month, Fort Plain’s median rent is below both the New York town median ($1,101 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). Typical home values rose 4.7% in the year to September 2026.
| Fort Plain | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $709 a month | $1,101 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 72% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 83 of 100, Fort Plain’s FEMA risk score is where New York’s towns sit at 31 of 100 and U.S. towns at 44 of 100. Since 1979, 86 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Fort Plain.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Fort Plain beats the New York average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 43% of Fort Plain adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Fort Plain | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 37% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 33% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Fort Plain | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.8% | 6% |
| More smokers | 17.8% | 11.3% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.9% | 12.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Fort Plain for work: only 10% work in town. 19% of residents live below the poverty line in Fort Plain. Jobs based in Fort Plain fell to 427 in 2023, 29 fewer than in 2013.
| Fort Plain | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 9.9% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Fort Plain has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 13° and about 54 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wiles Park | — | 28 |
| 2. Fort Plain Historical Park | — | 24 |
| 3. Haslett Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Fort Plain's reported crime rate is well below New York's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025.
| Fort Plain | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.5 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fort Plain. Close and well known come first.
Big draw22 mi MuseumNational Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum315K visitors a year20 mi LandmarkFort Dayton20 mi CaveHowe Caverns
33 mi Stadium & arenaUtica Memorial Auditorium
3 mi MuseumArkell Museum
36 mi TheatreProctor's TheatreNational Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Utica Memorial Auditorium: Doug Kerr, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Arkell Museum: Bakrell1 at English Wikipedia, GFDL · Proctor's Theatre: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0
None within 15 miles of Fort Plain; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Fort Plain residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Fort Plain’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 notable people were born in Fort Plain.
Village in New York, United States
Fort Plain is a village in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,930, down from 2,322 in 2010. The village is named after a fort built during the American Revolution at the junction of the Mohawk River and its tributary Otsquago Creek. The village of Fort Plain is in the town of Minden and is west of Amsterdam.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Fort Plain.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Plain | — | — | B | — | B− | C− |
| Nelliston | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Minden | #599 | C− | B | — | B− | C |
| Palatine | #520 | C | B+ | — | B− | C |
Fort Plain has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Fort Plain, Minden and Palatine report no FBI crime data of their own. Nelliston isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Fort Plain with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
3 notable people were born here, including Bud Fowler and Mark Adams.
