Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,098, settled in 1821.
The best of Grafton’s subject grades are an A− for cost of living and an A for the outdoors; the weakest is a D− for walkability. On walkability, just 47 of New York’s 1,216 towns do worse. Grafton’s trail density is 1.5 miles per square mile, where New York’s towns sit at 0.4 and U.S. towns at 0.4. The biggest place to walk is Grafton Lakes State Park, 2,473 acres with 27.4 miles of trail. Grafton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Grafton beats most towns.
Where Grafton’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 Grafton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,611 in 1820, a low of 633 in 1930, 2,051 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1924 and 4 maps from 1897 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Grafton. Close and well known come first.
17 mi MountainMount Greylock
13 mi MuseumClark Art Institute
30 mi TheatreTanglewood
17 mi Stadium & arenaMVP Arena
18 mi MuseumUSS Slater
34 mi MuseumNorman Rockwell MuseumMount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · Clark Art Institute: Daderot, Public domain · Tanglewood: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0 · MVP Arena: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire port, CC BY-SA 3.0 · USS Slater: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Norman Rockwell Museum: User:Rmrfstar, CC BY 2.5
Who provides power, water and the rest in Grafton, 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 Grafton.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 85% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Grafton since 1982.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Grafton beats the New York average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 41% of Grafton adults sleep under 7 hours, above both New York’s towns (37%) and U.S. towns (36%). 18% of Grafton adults binge drink.
| Grafton | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 17% | 19% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Grafton | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.1% | 17.2% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.1% | 7.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.6% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Grafton for work: only 3% work in town. The average trip to work in Grafton is 33 minutes. Since 2013, Grafton has added 33 jobs, to 164 in 2023.
| Grafton | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $101,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.4% | 10% | 8% |
| Work from home | 9.7% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 35 to 64 are 47% of residents (39% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (23% statewide). Grafton’s median age is 52.4 years. Grafton has grown 2.2% since 2020, to 2,098 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Grafton | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 52.4 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 18% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 32% | 29% |
42% women, 58% men
About 139 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±5.2 points). Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Grafton | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.3% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.5% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.4% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.4% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.4% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.3% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 27.6% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.3% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.7% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.4% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.2% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 27% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.4% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.2% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.8% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,100, single groups can be off by several points
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Grafton Lakes State Park | 27.4 mi | 2,473 |
| 2. Dyken Pond Environmental Education Center | 8.4 mi | 497 |
| 3. Grafton Forest | 6.4 mi | 1,091 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Grafton has cold winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 78° and January nights drop to 12°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
94% of households own their home in Grafton.
| Grafton | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 94% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,112 a month | $1,101 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
5 within 15 miles of the center of Grafton
About 2 of every 100 Grafton residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Town in New York, United States
Grafton is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 2,051 at the 2020 census. It is believed that the town received its name from Grafton, Vermont, where the first town supervisor, Nathaniel Dumbledore, was originally from. The town is an interior town near the north-central part of the county. NY Route 2 passes across the town. Grafton is notable for having a Peace Pagoda, built by Nipponzan Myohoji buddhist order in 1993.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Grafton.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grafton | — | — | A− | — | C+ | A− |
| Poestenkill | #197 | A− | C+ | — | B+ | A |
| Pittstown | #450 | C+ | B | — | B− | B+ |
| Brunswick | #276 | B+ | C+ | — | B− | B+ |
| Petersburgh | — | — | A− | — | C | B+ |
| Berlin | — | — | B+ | — | C− | B+ |
Grafton, Petersburgh and Berlin have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Grafton, Poestenkill, Pittstown, Brunswick, Petersburgh and Berlin report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Grafton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $217,000, 59% 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−.
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