Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2.2 times the nonprofits per person than the typical New York town.
Ghent grades C overall, ranked 530th of 745 in New York, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. On the other side, homes are expensive, about $555K for a typical one and 6.8 times the Hudson area’s $82K median household income. It also does better than most on health: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 73% of the country. Its lowest everyday mark is in schools: its schools rank behind 65% of the state's. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 90% of U.S. towns, with 4 places on the National Register. Only 51 of New York’s 1,187 towns score higher on civic life. 16% of residents live below the poverty line in Ghent, above both New York’s towns (9.5%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). The biggest place to walk is Art Omi, 106 acres with 5.2 miles of trail.
Where Ghent beats most towns.
Where Ghent’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Ghent is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,379 in 1820, 5,303 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1870 and 5 maps from 1903 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Ghent. Close and well known come first.
11 mi MuseumOlana State Historic Site
40 mi National Historic SiteHome of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site102K visitors a year
33 mi MountainMount Greylock
18 mi TheatreTanglewood
16 mi MuseumNorman Rockwell Museum
4 mi National Historic SiteMartin Van Buren National Historic Site16K visitors a yearOlana State Historic Site: Netniks, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site: Crunch, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · Tanglewood: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Norman Rockwell Museum: User:Rmrfstar, CC BY 2.5 · Martin Van Buren National Historic Site: Rolf Müller, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ghent, 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 Ghent.
Ghent has fewer 90° days than most of the country, though not than most of New York; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New York.
The median commute is under 18 miles. The share of working residents in Ghent who work locally: 15%. The top destinations are Hudson (10%), New York (9%) and Albany (8%). Its typical journey to work comes in at 27 minutes.
| Ghent | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 10% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Two of its 3 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. The largest public high school is Chatham High School, with 316 students. Public schools: the Chatham Central School District.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary E Dardess Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 365 | C |
| Chatham High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 316 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Among adults in Ghent, 30% feel lonely and 20% have been diagnosed with depression. Of 32 CDC measures, Ghent beats the New York average on 9 and trails it on 4. Ghent: 15% of adults report frequent mental distress.
| Ghent | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 21% | 23% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | Ghent | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.2% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.6% | 14.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.3% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
10 miles of trail wind through 2 parks and preserves. For Ghent, the trail network density is 0.2 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves here: 2, covering 161 acres.
| Ghent | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9.9% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Art Omi | 5.2 mi | 106 |
| 2. Harlem Valley Rail Trail | — | 55 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Compared with 69% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in Ghent is lower. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Ghent after 8 declared disasters, most recently in 2017. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 68% come from inland flooding and 10% from tornadoes. Since 2001, Ghent has seen 3 flood insurance claims paid out.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Hudson Correctional Facility weather station, 9 miles away, records that about 15 days a year reach 90°: fewer than most of the country, but more than 75% of New York places with climate records.
Expect July afternoons of 84° and January nights of 16°, with about 31 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Among adults 25 and older, 38% have a four-year degree or more, against 40% across New York. People 65 and older are 23% of residents (18% statewide). The midpoint age in Ghent is 47.8 years. The town has lost 2.1% of its people since 2020, down to 5,210 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Ghent | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 47.8 years | 42.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 18% | 20% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 32% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.1 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Ghent | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.5% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.3% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.4% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.3% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 7.9% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.9% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 18% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.7% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.8% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 14.9% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 15.3% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.3% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 21.8% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
At 6.8 years of the Hudson area’s $82K median household income, the typical home (about $555K) costs more against local pay than in 85% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
The typical Ghent home is worth about $555,000, up 7.5% in a year, 6% above the New York typical home. Its midpoint rent is $1,085 a month.
| Ghent | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,085 a month | $1,103 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 74% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Ghent
About 4 of every 100 Ghent residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
4 places in Ghent on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Ghent.
Town in New York, United States
Ghent is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States, with a ZIP code of 12075. The population was 5,303 at the 2020 census, down from the 2010 census population of 5,402. Ghent is centrally located in the county and is northeast of the city of Hudson.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Ghent.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghent | #530 | C | C− | — | C+ | B+ |
| Claverack | #602 | C− | C | — | C− | B |
| Kinderhook | #331 | B | C | — | B+ | A− |
| Austerlitz | — | — | C− | — | C+ | A |
| Chatham | #426 | B− | C | — | C+ | A |
| Stockport | #583 | C | C+ | — | C+ | B− |
| Hillsdale | — | — | C− | — | C+ | A− |
| Stottville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Austerlitz and Hillsdale have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Ghent, Claverack, Kinderhook, Austerlitz, Chatham, Stockport and Hillsdale report no FBI crime data of their own. Stottville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Ghent with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Ghent grades C overall, better than 32% of U.S. towns and #530 of 745 in New York. It grades B+ for health and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
5 notable people were born here, including Kristanna Loken and John Peter Van Ness.
,_Tanglewood,_Lenox,_Massachusetts.JPG){kind=link}
