Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Guilford earns a D, ranked 702nd of 745 in New York. It also has a long history, with 5 places on the National Register. On hazard risk, just 87 of New York’s 1,216 towns do worse. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 88% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Guildford Center Presbyterian Church and Rockdale Community Church.
Where Guilford beats most towns.
Census counts: 2,175 in 1820, 2,922 in 2010. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1875 and a map from 1943 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Guilford is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Guilford, 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 Guilford.
Guilford is a second-home town and gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New York (mostly inland flooding).
Guilford has 281 jobs for its 1,088 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
1.4% of working residents work locally in Guilford, below both the New York town median (10%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Jobs based in Guilford grew to 281 in 2023, 91 more than in 2013. 5% of Guilford residents live below the poverty line.
| Guilford | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1.4% | 10% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 5% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $74,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Bainbridge-Guilford Central School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guilford Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–1 | Grades PK–1 | 141 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 93% of New York towns, with expected losses of about $1,366 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on.
At 74 of 100, Guilford’s FEMA risk score is against 31 of 100 in New York’s towns and 44 of 100 across U.S. towns. Since 1979, 17 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Guilford.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Unadilla 2 N weather station, 7 miles away, records that 79 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 95% of U.S. towns.
Guilford has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Guilford’s July high is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Guilford beats the New York average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 16% of adults report frequent physical distress in Guilford.
| Guilford | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 37% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 25% | 25% |
| What stands out | Guilford | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 12.1% | 14.5% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80% | 77.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.7% | 6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2.5 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is South Hill State Forest, at 1,310 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. South Hill State Forest | — | 1,310 |
| 2. Wiley Brook State Forest | — | 334 |
| 3. Lyon Brook State Forest | — | 100 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Guilford; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Guilford residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Guilford’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
5 places in Guilford on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in Guilford.
Town in New York, United States
Guilford is a town in Chenango County, New York, United States. The town is on the eastern border of the county. The population was 2,922 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Guilford.
All 4 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; Bainbridge (D) is closest.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guilford | #702 | D | B− | — | C | C+ |
| Butternuts | — | — | B | — | C− | B− |
| Unadilla | #626 | C− | B+ | — | C− | C+ |
| Oxford | #632 | C− | B+ | — | C | C+ |
| Bainbridge | #701 | D | C+ | — | C | C+ |
| Norwich | #598 | C− | B | — | D | C+ |
Butternuts has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Guilford, Butternuts, Unadilla, Oxford, Bainbridge and Norwich report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Guilford with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Guilford grades D overall, better than 8% of U.S. towns and #702 of 745 in New York. It grades C+ for health and C for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
6 notable people were born here, including N. B. Willey and Ira B. Hyde.
