Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
53% more nonprofits per person than the typical New York town.
Hector is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 594th of 745 graded towns in New York, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: it is healthier than 71% of U.S. towns. Expect to pay for it: homes are expensive, about $219K for a typical one and 3.2 times the county’s $68K median household income. 18% of the land in Hector is conserved, where New York’s towns sit at 5.2% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. Finger Lakes National Forest, at 11,026 acres with 38.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Hector beats most towns.
Logan Methodist ChurchWhere Hector’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 Hector is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 4,012 in 1820, 4,916 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1874 and 3 maps from 1950 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hector, 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 Hector.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Finger Lakes National Forest | 38.5 mi | 11,026 |
| 2. Texas Hollow State Forest | 3.6 mi | 808 |
| 3. Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 80% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 8 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Hector.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The average commute for its 1,897 working residents takes 26.6 minutes, against 32.6 across New York. Jobs based here grew from 398 in 2013 to 634.
Most working residents leave Hector for work: only 10% work in town. 16% of residents live below the poverty line in Hector, above both New York’s towns (9.5%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Since 2013, Hector has added 236 jobs, to 634 in 2023.
| Hector | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 14% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
30% of Hector adults feel lonely. Hector beats the New York average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 31% of Hector adults have obesity.
| Hector | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 81% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | Hector | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.2% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.8% | 17.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.8% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Hector has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Hector’s July high is 79°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (23% statewide); people 65 and older are 25% of residents (18% statewide). The median age in Hector is 51.1 years. Hector has lost 3.3% of its people since 2020, down to 4,733 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Hector | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 51.1 years | 42.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 25% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 32% | 29% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.7 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 69% are men (NY 50%).
| Hector | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5.9% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.1% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.7% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.1% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.8% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.3% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 20.1% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 17.6% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.4% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.3% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.4% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 14.6% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 16.8% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 12.6% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 24.3% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,700, single groups can be off by several points
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hector. Close and well known come first.
15 mi LakeSeneca Lake
7 mi State parkWatkins Glen State Park
16 mi LakeCayuga Lake
11 mi State parkTaughannock Falls State Park
25 mi MuseumCorning Museum of Glass400K visitors a year
16 mi Stadium & arenaSchoellkopf FieldSeneca Lake: RochesterNY, Public domain · Watkins Glen State Park: Flickr user: Peter Rivera Stamford, Connecticut https://www.flickr.com/people/ri, CC BY 2.0 · Cayuga Lake: The original uploader was Cornellrockey at English Wikipedia. Later versions we, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Taughannock Falls State Park: Michael C. Rygel, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Corning Museum of Glass: User:Stilfehler, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Schoellkopf Field: Alex Sergeev, (www.asergeev.com) Originally uploaded by en:User:Cornell010, CC BY-SA 3.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Hector
About 3 of every 100 Hector residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
2 places in Hector on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Hector.
Town in New York, United States
Hector is a town in the northeastern corner of Schuyler County, New York, United States. The population was 4,916 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Hector, a character from Greek mythology. Hector is west of Ithaca.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Hector.
Starkey next door grades lower for schools (D to Hector’s B−) and higher for cost of living (B to C).
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hector | #594 | C− | C | — | B− | B+ |
| Reading | — | — | C+ | — | C+ | B |
| Watkins Glen | — | — | C+ | — | C+ | C+ |
| Dix | #509 | C | B | — | C+ | B− |
| Catharine | — | — | A− | — | C+ | B− |
| Lodi | — | — | B+ | — | C− | C+ |
| Enfield | #296 | B | C | — | B | A |
| Starkey | #657 | D | B | — | D | C |
Reading, Watkins Glen, Catharine and Lodi have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Hector, Reading, Watkins Glen, Dix, Catharine, Lodi, Enfield and Starkey report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Hector with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hector grades C− overall, better than 24% of U.S. towns and #594 of 745 in New York. It grades B+ for health and B− 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 C.
3 notable people were born here, including P. Dean Warner and James J. Gould.
