Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This town of 1,344 people was established in 1858.
Indian Lake’s best subject grades are an A for the outdoors and civic life; its weakest is a C for incomes. 38% of working residents work locally in Indian Lake, where New York’s towns sit at 10% and U.S. towns at 8%. Only 2 of the 759 New York towns we compare have a higher midpoint age than Indian Lake. 85% of the land in Indian Lake is conserved, above both New York’s towns (5.2%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Blue Mountain Wild Forest, at 24,103 acres with 25.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. On the outdoors, just 114 of New York’s 1,216 towns do better. Indian Lake has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Indian Lake beats most towns.
Adirondack Forest PreserveIn a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Indian Lake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 256 in 1860, 1,352 in 2010. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1919 and 4 maps from 1903 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Indian Lake, 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 Indian Lake.
162 miles of trail in 13 parks and preserves. Indian Lake’s concentration of trails stands at 0.6 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves here: 13, covering 108,191 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Blue Mountain Wild Forest | 25.5 mi | 24,103 |
| 2. Siamese Ponds Wilderness | 19.7 mi | 20,562 |
| 3. Blue Ridge Wilderness | 17.7 mi | 23,102 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Indian Lake Central School District. 126 students attend the town’s public school.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Lake Central SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 126 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Here, 32% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree, against 40% in New York as a whole.
| Indian Lake | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 9.4% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 32% | 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.
| Indian Lake | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 3% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.4% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 1.1% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 4.7% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 7.3% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.9% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 23.4% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 26.4% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 14.8% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.7% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 36.8% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.3% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.3% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.7% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.2% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,300, single groups can be off by several points
About one worker in three stays in Indian Lake for work. Indian Lake’s middle household income comes in at $63,000. For residents here, the share who live below the poverty line is 6.1%. The top destinations are Johnsburg (6%), Lake Pleasant (6%) and Glens Falls (5%).
| Indian Lake | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $63,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 6.1% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Summers in Indian Lake are pleasant, and winters cold, snowy. July afternoons reach 76°, January nights drop to 6° and about 102 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
In Indian Lake, just over a third of adults sleep under 7 hours. This New York town does better than the New York average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 7. Two figures for adults here: 14% binge drink, 14% report frequent mental distress. Only 3 of the 756 New York towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than Indian Lake.
| Indian Lake | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 34% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Indian Lake | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.4% | 14.5% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10% | 17.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 13.4% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Just over four fifths of Indian Lake’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 7%. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in the town than in 52% of U.S. communities. The national flood insurance program has paid 4 claims here since 2011.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Among households in the town, 80% live in a home they own. In Indian Lake, the midpoint rent is $825 a month.
| Indian Lake | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $825 a month | $1,101 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 80% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Indian Lake. Close and well known come first.
14 mi State parkAdirondack Park
31 mi MountainMount Marcy
30 mi LakeLake Tear of the Clouds
19 mi Ski areaGore Mountain104 runs · 2,535 ft vertical
37 mi LandmarkJohn Brown Farm State Historic Site
31 mi Theme parkEnchanted Forest Water SafariAdirondack Park: Original uploader was Mwanner at en.wikipedia Later version(s) were uploaded by, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mount Marcy: Daniel Tripp, Public domain · Lake Tear of the Clouds: TheKilimanjaro, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gore Mountain: MJPlante1, CC BY-SA 4.0 · John Brown Farm State Historic Site: Mwanner | Talk, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Enchanted Forest Water Safari: Arsenalforthewin, CC BY-SA 4.0
None within 15 miles of Indian Lake; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Indian Lake residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
85.2% of the town is conserved land, across 13 parks and preserves.
6 places in Indian Lake on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New York, United States
Indian Lake is a town in Hamilton County, New York, United States. The population was 1,352 at the 2010 census. The name is from a lake of the same name that is largely inside the town. There are no permanent stop lights in the town. The town is on the eastern border of the county and is northeast of Utica. Indian Lake terms itself the "Moose capital of the Northeast". Their welcoming sign on Route 28 even features this critter, and several other examples of this claim can be found throughout the town itself.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $255,000, 51% 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 B+.
