Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of contrasts. The weak point is cost of living — the typical home is worth about $454K, 4.6 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Walkability is its strong suit: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 91% of U.S. towns. All told, that adds up to a C+ overall and a rank of 470th of 745 in New York. That leaves it better than two fifths of U.S. towns. 52% of the land in Haverstraw is conserved, above both New York’s towns (5.2%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Harriman State Park, at 7,703 acres with 45.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. This New York town has 9 places on the National Register.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · USGS PAD-US · OpenStreetMap · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Haverstraw beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1616, is the earliest of any New York town we grade.
Census counts: 4,826 in 1790, a low of 2,306 in 1830, 39,087 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1818 and 7 maps from 1892 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Haverstraw is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Haverstraw. Close and well known come first.
Big draw14 mi MuseumUnited States Military Academy
Big draw29 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw27 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw30 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw30 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a yearUnited States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain · Central Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Madison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Haverstraw, 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 Haverstraw.
Haverstraw keeps more of its land conserved than most of New York and costs less than Stony Point or any other town next door.
Its 9,130 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 99% of New York towns. Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #1 of 758 in New York.
There are 61 miles of trail across 6 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Haverstraw: 6, covering 8,703 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Harriman State Park | 45.7 mi | 7,703 |
| 2. High Tor State Park | 4.4 mi | 474 |
| 3. Cheesecote Mountain Park | 3.4 mi | 424 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Haverstraw-Stony Point CSD. Two of the 8 schools are below, and why each made the list. The 5 public schools in Haverstraw teach 3,857 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fieldstone Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 1,207 | C− |
| North Rockland High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,798 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Nearly a tenth of Haverstraw adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Two figures for adults here: 42% sleep under 7 hours, 14% report frequent mental distress.
| Haverstraw | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 21% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Haverstraw | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10% | 12.8% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 3.1% | 3.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Commuting out is the norm in Haverstraw: a tenth of working residents work locally. Jobs here fell by 1,332 from 2013 to 2023, to 6,978. For Haverstraw, the average trip to work is 30 minutes. The top destinations are Clarkstown (19%), New York (18%) and Ramapo (12%).
| Haverstraw | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $89,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 20° and about 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Stony Point is next at $660K.
In Haverstraw, nearly two thirds of households are owner-occupiers. A typical home here is worth about $454,000, up 2.4% in a year, 14% below the New York typical home. The median rent in the town is $1,906 a month.
| Haverstraw | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,906 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 65% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
35 violent crimes were reported in 2025. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. Haverstraw's reported crime rate is well below New York's.
| Haverstraw | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.9 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 8.2 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Children under 18 are just over a quarter of residents (21% statewide). For residents in Haverstraw, the share who are under 18 is 25%. Since 2020, Haverstraw has grown 3.4%, to 40,462 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. Its midpoint age is 37.8 years.
| Haverstraw | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 25% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 37.8 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 34% | 32% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.6 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women. Median age: women 38.3, men 37.4.
| Haverstraw | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 16.3% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.2% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.4% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.3% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.4% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.1% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.6% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.8% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.8% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 18.4% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.2% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.2% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.4% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.7% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
For Haverstraw, the natural-hazard score from FEMA is 49 of 100. Since 1978, 35 flood insurance claims have been paid out here. 72% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 6%. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid in 7 declared disasters, most recently in 2020.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
23 within 15 miles of the center of Haverstraw
About 5 of every 100 Haverstraw residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
52.1% of the town is conserved land, across 6 parks and preserves.
9 places in Haverstraw on the National Register of Historic Places.
13 notable people were born in Haverstraw.
Town in New York, United States
The Town of Haverstraw (English pronunciation: /ˈhæːvəɹstɹɔː/ ) is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of the Town of Clarkstown and the Town of Ramapo; east of Orange County; south of the Town of Stony Point; and west of the Hudson River. The town runs from the west to the east border of the county in its northern section. The population was 39,087 at the 2020 census. The name comes from the Dutch word Haverstroo meaning "oats straw", referring to the grasslands along the river. The town contains three villages, one of which is also known as Haverstraw. Haverstraw village is the original seat of government for the town, hosting the area's historic central down…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Haverstraw.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haverstraw | #470 | C+ | D | — | C+ | A− |
| Stony Point | #280 | B | D | A | C | A |
| Haverstraw | #706 | D | D− | — | C | C |
| Clarkstown | #201 | A− | D− | B− | A− | A |
| New City | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Croton-on-Hudson | #24 | A+ | D | A | A | A+ |
| Cortlandt | #155 | A− | D | — | A− | A |
| Ramapo | #503 | C+ | D− | A− | D | B+ |
Haverstraw, Haverstraw and Cortlandt report no FBI crime data of their own. New City isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Haverstraw with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Haverstraw grades C+ overall, better than 40% of U.S. towns and #470 of 745 in New York. It grades A− for health and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
13 notable people were born here, including Abram Stevens Hewitt and Robert Sterling Yard.
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