Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Highlands grades A− overall, ranked 173rd of 745 in New York. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 100% of U.S. towns. The median household earns $116K. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $338K, 3.4 years of the Kiryas Joel metro’s $98K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 94% of U.S. towns, with 15 places on the National Register. Highlands’ median rent is $2,640 a month, above both New York’s towns ($1,098 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). Highlands is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 93% of U.S. towns. Only 32 of New York’s 1,216 towns score higher on the outdoors.
Where Highlands beats most towns.
United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 3,404 in 1880, 12,939 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1821 and 5 maps from 1902 on.
15 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Highlands is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for safety (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 7%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Highlands. Close and well known come first.
Big drawin town MuseumUnited States Military Academy
Big draw39 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw38 mi Stadium & arenaYankee Stadium
in town Stadium & arenaMichie Stadium
in town State parkBear Mountain State Park1.9M visitors a year
Big draw35 mi MuseumThe CloistersUnited States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Yankee Stadium: Matt Boulton, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Michie Stadium: John Pellino, Public domain · Bear Mountain State Park: Mwanner at English Wikipedia, Public domain · The Cloisters: Paweł Drozd on Wiki Drozdpl cropped by Beyond My Ken (talk) 17:05, 27 December 2, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Highlands, 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 Highlands.
Highlands is shaped by its college students, is one of New York’s best towns for the outdoors and sees little violent crime.
Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #23 of 758 in New York.
58 miles of trail in 11 parks and preserves. The trail density in Highlands is 1.8 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Harriman State Park, 1,946 acres with 11.3 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bear Mountain State Park | 12.6 mi | 1,413 |
| 2. Harriman State Park | 11.3 mi | 1,946 |
| 3. Black Rock Forest | 10.7 mi | 1,721 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Highland Falls Central School District. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is James I O'Neill High School, with 409 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Falls Intermediate SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 3–8 | Grades 3–8 | 334 | C− |
| James I O'Neill High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 409 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Violent crime is rare: 0 reported in 2025, 0 per 1,000 residents.
Highlands’ property crime rate is 0 per 1,000 residents. Highlands reports less crime per resident than 100% of the U.S. towns and cities we grade.
| Highlands | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 7.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The average commute for its 3,745 working residents takes 18.7 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Most working residents leave Highlands for work: only 15% work in town. Since 2013, Highlands has added 438 jobs, to 2,248 in 2023. 4.5% of Highlands residents live below the poverty line.
| Highlands | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $116,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 18% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 4.5% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
21.2% of residents are enrolled in college, against 7% statewide, which pulls the median age down.
8.2% of residents are 65 or older in Highlands. 48% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 40% across New York. 23% of residents are under 18 in Highlands.
| Highlands | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 8.2% | 20% | 18% |
| Median age | 31.1 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 48% | 32% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 23% | 20% | 22% |
44% women, 56% men
About 128 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.7 points). Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Highlands | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.2% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.9% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 24.1% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.5% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.8% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 8.3% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 5.5% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 2.7% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.9% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.2% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 15% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.6% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.7% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 29.6% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Highlands has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 18° and about 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 51% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Highlands since 1979.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
7 within 15 miles of the center of Highlands
College town 21 of every 100 Highlands residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
27.5% of the town is conserved land, across 11 parks and preserves.
15 places in Highlands on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New York, United States
Highlands is a town on the eastern border of Orange County, New York. The population was 12,939 at the 2020 census. West Point, including the United States Military Academy, is located alongside the Hudson River in Highlands.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Highlands.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands | #173 | A− | D | A+ | B | — |
| Philipstown | #130 | A | D | — | A | A |
| Cornwall | #59 | A | D | A+ | A | A |
| Woodbury · Woodbury | #305 | B | D | — | B | A |
| West Point | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Stony Point | #280 | B | D | A | C | A |
Philipstown and Woodbury report no FBI crime data of their own. West Point isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Woodbury and Woodbury are one community, graded once. Compare Highlands with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Highlands grades A− overall, better than 78% of U.S. towns and #173 of 745 in New York. It grades A+ for safety and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $338,000, 36% 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 D.
