Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 11,969, established in 1788.
German Flatts gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $120K for a typical one, or 1.7 years of the Utica metro’s $70K median household income. It grades B overall, 346th of 745 graded towns in New York. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 75% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 91% of U.S. towns, with 7 places on the National Register. Its National Register listings include Fort Herkimer Church and US Post Office-Ilion. German Flatts’ median rent is $728 a month, where New York’s towns sit at $1,103 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month. The biggest park or preserve is Plantation Island Wildlife Management Area, at 263 acres.
Where German Flatts beats most towns.
Census counts: 2,665 in 1820, 12,263 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1851 and 2 maps from 1903 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far German Flatts is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in German Flatts, 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 German Flatts.
German Flatts is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New York (mostly inland flooding).
Jobs based here fell from 3,161 in 2013 to 2,349. The average commute for its 5,326 working residents takes 21.3 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Most working residents leave German Flatts for work: only 14% work in town. Jobs based in German Flatts fell to 2,349 in 2023, 812 fewer than in 2013. The average trip to work in German Flatts is 21 minutes.
| German Flatts | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by Central Valley CSD At Ilion-Mohawk. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Central Valley Academy, with 615 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gregory B Jarvis Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 618 | D |
| Central Valley AcademyLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 615 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 94% of New York towns, with expected losses of about $385 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on.
Since 2006, 10 flood insurance claims have been paid out in German Flatts.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| German Flatts | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Plantation Island Wildlife Management Area | — | 263 |
| 2. Herkimer Forest Preserve Detached Parcel | — | 183 |
| 3. Weller Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
German Flatts has cold winters and pleasant summers. German Flatts’ July high is 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 10,303 U.S. towns with household incomes like German Flatts’s, it is healthier than 75%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income.
German Flatts beats the New York average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 19% of adults binge drink in German Flatts.
| German Flatts | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 33% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 21% | 23% |
| What stands out | German Flatts | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.6% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.6% | 17.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.9% | 6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 1.7 years of the Utica metro’s $70K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 96% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its A− for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $3,091, against $6,582 across New York, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around German Flatts. Close and well known come first.
Big draw20 mi MuseumNational Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum315K visitors a year3 mi LandmarkFort Dayton
29 mi National MonumentFort Stanwix National Monument78K visitors a year
16 mi Stadium & arenaUtica Memorial Auditorium35 mi CaveHowe Caverns
16 mi MuseumMunson-Williams-Proctor Arts InstituteNational Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fort Stanwix National Monument: NPS photo, Public domain · Utica Memorial Auditorium: Doug Kerr, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of German Flatts
About 2 of every 100 German Flatts residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where German Flatts’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
7 places in German Flatts on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in German Flatts.
Town in Herkimer County, New York, US
German Flatts is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The population was 12,263 at the 2020 census down from 13,258 at the 2010 census. The town is in the southern part of Herkimer County, on the south side of the Mohawk River, across from the village of Herkimer. The town includes the villages of Ilion and Mohawk.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with German Flatts.
It grades higher overall than all 4 graded towns on its borders; Frankfort (B−) comes closest.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| German Flatts | #346 | B | A− | — | C | B |
| Herkimer | #508 | C+ | B | — | C+ | C+ |
| Ilion | #463 | C+ | A− | C | C | B− |
| Columbia | — | — | B+ | — | C+ | B− |
| Herkimer | #698 | D | B− | D− | C | C+ |
| Little Falls | — | — | A− | — | C | C |
| Frankfort | #407 | B− | B− | B+ | C | B |
| Mohawk | — | — | A− | — | C | B− |
Columbia, Little Falls and Mohawk have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. German Flatts, Herkimer, Columbia, Little Falls and Mohawk report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare German Flatts with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. German Flatts grades B overall, better than 56% of U.S. towns and #346 of 745 in New York. It grades B for health and C for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $120,000, 77% 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 A−.
6 notable people were born here, including Francis E. Spinner and Adam Helmer.
