Kiryas Joel crop, 2006
Kiryas Joel’s story
49 years in pictures
Census counts: 2,088 in 1980, 32,954 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 4 maps from 1902 on.
- 1977Kiryas Joel is settled
Kiryas JoelNY
A town of 47,147, settled in 1977.
2 bordering townsMap →
Population
47,147
2025 Census estimate · +43.1% since 2020
Median home value
$759K
Census ACS
Household income
$50K
median
Median age
15.7
years
Jobs based here
9,469
Balanced
TownGrade
C+
#458 of 745 in NY
What should you know before moving to Kiryas Joel?
Kiryas Joel's standout: its schools rank ahead of 98% of New York towns. Overall it grades C+, 458th of 745 graded towns in New York. It is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns and natural-hazard risk is low. Its weakest subject is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $759K for a typical one and 7.7 times the Kiryas Joel metro’s $98K median household income. 2.4% of residents are 65 or older in Kiryas Joel, below both the New York town median (20%) and the median of U.S. towns (18%). On health, just 30 of New York’s 1,213 towns do worse. Kiryas Joel's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 81% of U.S. towns.
What makes Kiryas Joel stand out
Where Kiryas Joel beats most towns.
A growing town
Kiryas Joel has grown 134% since 2010
20,175 counted in 2010 and 32,954 in 2020; an estimated 47,147 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 43.1% since 2020, after 63.3% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
How Kiryas Joel grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Kiryas Joel is from typical.
SchoolsA+Open →WalkabilityEPA walkability 9.2 of 20; 42.2% of households have no carAOpen →Cost of livingDOpen →Hazard riskFEMA risk higher than 19% of U.S. communities; inland flooding tops the listAOpen →HealthLess healthy than 83% of U.S. towns; Keller Ach (West Point) 10.4 miles awayC−Open →Jobs & incomeC+Open →
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
OutdoorsConserved land, trails and parksDOpen →HistoryD−Open →Civic life1.6 community nonprofits per 1,000 residentsC−Open →
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Nearby attractions
All 591 attractions →United States Military Academy and 159 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Kiryas Joel. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi MuseumUnited States Military Academy
Big draw40 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaYankee Stadium
Big draw40 mi MuseumSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum1.1M visitors a year
Big draw40 mi MuseumAmerican Museum of Natural History5.0M visitors a yearSources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits
United States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain · Central Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Yankee Stadium: Matt Boulton, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: Jean-Christophe BENOIST, CC BY 3.0 · American Museum of Natural History: Gigi alt, CC BY-SA 3.0
Getting set up
The full setup list →Moving to Kiryas Joel: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Kiryas Joel, and how to reach them.
PowerOrange & Rockland26.2¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterKiryas Joel water systemNo health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet5 providers100% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & dumpNot on file yetWe don’t have Kiryas Joel’s trash rules yet
Register to voteOnlineIn New York you can register online until 10 days before Election Day, in person until 10 days before Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 15 days before and received 10 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereOrange County Board of ElectionsOrange County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Jun 2023
ZIP code1095010950 100%Census 2020
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Kiryas Joel.
Kiryas Joel is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New York and has poverty well above the New York rate.
HealthC−
A larger share of adults say their health is fair or poor in Kiryas Joel than in most of New York or the rest of the country
Against the 5,808 U.S. towns with household incomes like Kiryas Joel’s, it is less healthy than 58%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
30% of Kiryas Joel adults say their health is fair or poor. Of the 755 New York towns we compare, none has a higher share of adults who report frequent mental distress than Kiryas Joel. 41% of Kiryas Joel adults feel lonely.
17%healthier than U.S. townsC−Health Grade
| Kiryas Joel | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 17% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 16% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 37% | 36% |
32 measures vs. New York
7 better1 too close to call24 worse
| What stands out | Kiryas Joel | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.6% | 7.7% |
| Fewer adults with high cholesterol | 25.6% | 37.7% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 37.1% | 12.8% |
Keller Ach (West Point)
10.4 mi away · emergency room
2 of 3
care shortages: primary care, mental health
2nd
percentile among NY towns
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Natural hazardsHazard risk grade A
Inland flooding leads a very low hazard risk in Kiryas Joel
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 81% of U.S. communities. Since 2011, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Kiryas Joel.
19risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Inland floodingCold wavesTornadoes
2
paid flood claims since 2011
10
federal disasters paid out here
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Climate
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Kiryas Joel
Kiryas Joel has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 18° and about 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
36″snow a winter
Typical low → high °F
Winter21–38°
Spring38–59°
Summer60–81°
Fall43–62°
Oct 11
typical first frost
May 1
typical last frost
+2.0°
vs. the 20th-century average
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Work & commuteJobs & income grade C+
More of Kiryas Joel’s residents live below the poverty line than in the typical New York or U.S. town
The average commute for its 11,037 working residents takes 18.9 minutes, against 32.6 across New York. Jobs based here grew from 3,996 in 2013 to 9,469.
38% of residents live below the poverty line in Kiryas Joel. Since 2013, Kiryas Joel has added 5,473 jobs, to 9,469 in 2023. Kiryas Joel’s median household income is $50,000.
41%work in town
| Kiryas Joel | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 38% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 41% | 10% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $50,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
In Kiryas Joel41%
Palm Tree41%
New York22%
Ramapo5%
Monroe5%
13 mi
median commute distance
9,469
jobs based in Kiryas Joel
Balanced
jobs vs. working residents
A
Walkability grade: more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
HousingCost of living grade D
The median home in Kiryas Joel sells for about $638K
At 7.7 years of the Kiryas Joel metro’s $98K median household income, the typical home costs more against local pay than in 88% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. 75.1% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 52.1% across New York.
The median rent in Kiryas Joel is $1,604 a month.
$638Kmedian sale price
| Kiryas Joel | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 33% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,604 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
1
homes sold in May
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Kiryas Joel
17pages on Kiryas Joel
The big questions
Out and about
The story
After high school
Colleges nearby
6 within 15 miles of the center of Kiryas Joel
Uta Mesivta of Kiryas JoelUniversity or college · Private nonprofit · Monroe0.5 mi$16,000 tuitionUnited States Military AcademyUniversity or college · Public · West Point11.4 miRockland Community CollegeCommunity college · Public · Suffern14.8 mi$6,862 in-state tuition
About 5 of every 100 Kiryas Joel residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
About Kiryas Joel
Village in New York, United States
Kiryas Joel (Yiddish: קרית יואל, romanized: Kiryas Yoyel, pronounced [ˈkɪrjəs ˈjɔɪ.əl] ; often locally abbreviated as KJ) is a village coterminous with the Town of Palm Tree in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 32,954 at the 2020 census, approximately 5% of the estimated 712,000 population of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area. The vast majority of its residents are Yiddish-speaking Hasidic Jews who belong to the worldwide Satmar sect of Hasidism. According to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, Kiryas Joel has by far the youngest median age population of any municipality in the United States, and the youngest, at 11.4 years old, of a…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1977
- Area
- 1.1 sq mi
- Elevation
- 843 ft
Kiryas Joel’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Kiryas Joel.
Palm TreeMonroeKiryas Joel
How the neighbors grade
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kiryas Joel | #458 | C+ | D | — | A+ | C− |
| Palm Tree | #360 | B− | D | — | A+ | C+ |
| Monroe | #496 | C+ | D− | — | B | C+ |
Kiryas Joel, Palm Tree and Monroe report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Kiryas Joel with a neighbor →
Questions about Kiryas Joel
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Kiryas Joel, NY a good place to live?
Kiryas Joel grades C+ overall, better than 41% of U.S. towns and #458 of 745 in New York. It grades C− for health and A+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Kiryas Joel, NY expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $759,000, 45% above 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.