Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
87% more nonprofits per person than the typical New York town.
Gerry’s best subject grades are an A for civic life and an A− for the outdoors; its weakest is a C for walkability. 30% of residents are 65 or older in Gerry, where New York’s towns sit at 20% and U.S. towns at 18%. 15% of the land in Gerry is conserved, above both the New York town median (5.2%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). On civic life, just 83 of New York’s 1,187 towns do better. Harris Hill State Forest, at 1,507 acres with 22 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Gerry has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Gerry beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Gerry is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 1867.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Gerry, 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 Gerry.
The typical Gerry home is worth about $179,000, up 6.1% in a year, 66% below the New York typical home.
| Gerry | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 75% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,138 a month | $1,101 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Cassadaga Valley Central School District. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Cassadaga Valley Middle/High School, with 382 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sinclairville Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 413 | B− |
| Cassadaga Valley Middle/High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 382 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Gerry has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Gerry is 78°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
26 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Gerry’s trail density is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Harris Hill State Forest | 22 mi | 1,507 |
| 2. Hatch Creek State Forest | 0.9 mi | 1,268 |
| 3. Gerry Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Most working residents leave Gerry for work: only 6% work in town. Jobs based in Gerry grew to 628 in 2023, 339 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Jamestown (18%), Ellicott (17%) and Ellery (8%).
| Gerry | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $69,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.4% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 53% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Gerry.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Gerry beats the New York average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. 39% of adults have high blood pressure in Gerry.
| Gerry | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 34% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 81% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Gerry | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 11.4% | 14.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.9% | 6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Gerry. Close and well known come first.
10 mi LakeChautauqua Lake
29 mi DamKinzua Dam
27 mi State parkAllegany State Park
9 mi MuseumLucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center29 mi Ski areaHoliday Valley79 runs · 790 ft vertical28 mi Ski areaHolimont42 runs · 671 ft verticalChautauqua Lake: Banderas, Public domain · Kinzua Dam: Niagara, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Allegany State Park: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Gerry
About 3 of every 100 Gerry residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
3 notable people were born in Gerry.
Town in New York, United States
Gerry is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 1,789 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Elbridge Gerry, the fifth Vice President of the United States. The town is centrally located in the county and is north of Jamestown.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Gerry.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerry | — | — | B | — | C+ | B− |
| Charlotte | — | — | B+ | — | C+ | B− |
| Ellicott | #634 | C− | B− | C− | B− | C |
| Ellington | — | — | A− | — | C | C+ |
| Ellery | #341 | B | B− | — | A− | B |
| Sinclairville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Poland | — | — | A− | — | C | C+ |
Gerry, Charlotte, Ellington and Poland have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Gerry, Charlotte, Ellington, Ellery and Poland report no FBI crime data of their own. Sinclairville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Gerry with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
87% more nonprofits per person than the typical New York town.
That is 3.1 years of the area's median household income ($58,351 across the Jamestown-Dunkirk, NY area). 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 John Schofield and George W. Schofield.
