Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Jay’s best subject grades are an A for the outdoors and history; its weakest is a C− for walkability. Only 98 of New York’s 1,216 towns score lower on hazard risk. Jay’s January low is 8°F, below both the New York town median (16°F) and the median of U.S. towns (22°F). 22% of the land in Jay is conserved, where New York’s towns sit at 5.2% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. The biggest place to walk is Hurricane Mountain Wilderness, 2,768 acres with 1.8 miles of trail. Jay has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Jay beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,647 in 1820, 2,486 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 1898 and 3 maps from 1895 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Jay is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Jay, 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 Jay.
Most working residents leave Jay for work: only 11% work in town. Jobs based in Jay grew to 625 in 2023, 407 more than in 2013. Jay’s average trip to work is 28 minutes.
| Jay | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 6.7% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 8.8% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $72,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Ausable Valley Central School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ausable Forks Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 229 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Adults 18 to 34 are 10% of residents (23% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 49% of residents (39% statewide). 25% of residents are 65 or older in Jay. 31% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 40% across New York.
| Jay | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 48.8 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 16% | 20% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 25% | 20% | 18% |
45% women, 55% men
About 124 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±5 points). Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Jay | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6.5% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.4% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.1% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 5.7% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.8% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 18.8% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.3% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.9% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 13.4% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.3% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 37.9% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.6% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.9% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.3% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.1% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,500, single groups can be off by several points
49 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves. The trail density in Jay is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. New Vida Preserve | 8.7 mi | 558 |
| 2. Four Peaks Tract | 8.4 mi | 474 |
| 3. Jay Mountain Wilderness | 3.5 mi | 2,431 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 74% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 166 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Jay.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Jay has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 80°, January nights drop to 8° and about 64 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jay beats the New York average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 33% of Jay adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Jay | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 37% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 5% | 5.9% | 8.1% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 81% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | Jay | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.3% | 17.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.4% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Jay. Close and well known come first.
Big draw21 mi LakeLake Champlain
22 mi MountainMount Marcy
10 mi MountainWhiteface Mountain
22 mi LakeLake Tear of the Clouds
16 mi Canyon & gorgeAusable Chasm
16 mi LandmarkJohn Brown Farm State Historic SiteLake Champlain: Copernicus Sentinel-2, ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · Mount Marcy: Daniel Tripp, Public domain · Whiteface Mountain: Mwanner, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Tear of the Clouds: TheKilimanjaro, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ausable Chasm: Alan Prusila / Alanp35 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · John Brown Farm State Historic Site: Mwanner | Talk, CC BY-SA 3.0
None within 15 miles of Jay; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Jay residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Jay’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
8 places in Jay on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New York, United States
Jay is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 2,506 at the 2010 census. The town is named after John Jay, governor of New York when the town was formed. The town is on the northern border of Essex County and is 34 miles (55 km) southwest of Plattsburgh, 93 miles (150 km) south of Montreal, and 135 miles (217 km) north of Albany. Jay is located inside the Adirondack Park.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Jay.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay | — | — | C+ | — | C | B+ |
| Black Brook | — | — | B | — | C | B |
| Au Sable Forks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wilmington | — | — | C+ | — | C+ | A− |
| Chesterfield | — | — | B+ | — | C | B |
| Lewis | — | — | B+ | — | C | B+ |
| Au Sable | #533 | C | B− | — | C+ | B+ |
| Keene | — | — | D | — | A− | A− |
Jay, Black Brook, Wilmington, Chesterfield, Lewis and Keene have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Jay, Black Brook, Wilmington, Chesterfield, Lewis, Au Sable and Keene report no FBI crime data of their own. Au Sable Forks isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Jay with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
2 notable people were born here, including Earl Finch and Robert Crowley.
