Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
LaFayette grades B overall, 316th among New York's 745 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Residents are healthier than 88% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and the median household earns $114K. Its lowest everyday mark is in schools: its public schools trail 62% of New York towns on state tests and graduation. A typical home there costs about $229K, 3 years of the Syracuse metro’s $75K median household income. Only 118 of New York’s 1,216 towns score lower on walkability. The biggest place to walk is Jamesville Beach County Park, 142 acres with 1.2 miles of trail.
Where LaFayette beats most towns.
| Widest gap | LaFayette | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.3% | 17.2% |
Where LaFayette’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 LaFayette is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,560 in 1830, a low of 1,293 in 1920, 4,910 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 4 maps from 1900 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around LaFayette. Close and well known come first.
9 mi Stadium & arenaJMA Wireless Dome
14 mi LakeOnondaga Lake
34 mi LakeCayuga Lake
12 mi State parkGreen Lakes State Park
10 mi Stadium & arenaOncenter War Memorial Arena
35 mi State parkTaughannock Falls State ParkJMA Wireless Dome: Jimhoward03, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Onondaga Lake: R. A. Nonenmacher, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cayuga Lake: The original uploader was Cornellrockey at English Wikipedia. Later versions we, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Green Lakes State Park: Ebedgert at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Oncenter War Memorial Arena: Crazyale, Public domain · Taughannock Falls State Park: Michael C. Rygel, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in LaFayette, 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 LaFayette.
LaFayette gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and has less food insecurity than most of New York, but it trails Pompey and its other neighbors on schools.
Its widest gap with New York is food insecurity: 8.3% of its 4,644 adults worry about having enough food, against 17.2% statewide.
In LaFayette, 9.6% of adults have diabetes, below both New York’s towns (11%) and U.S. towns (12%). 13% of adults say their health is fair or poor locally. CDC measures, 32 in all: LaFayette beats New York on 14 and trails on 4.
| LaFayette | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.8% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 25% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 17% | 19% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | LaFayette | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.3% | 17.2% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4% | 7.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.6% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Each of its 4 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than that grade, Pompey highest at A.
Its two schools are below. 2 public schools serve LaFayette, with 636 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| C Grant Grimshaw SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 338 | C |
| La Fayette Junior-Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 298 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
The average commute for its 2,154 working residents takes 21.9 minutes, against 32.6 across New York. Jobs based here grew from 766 in 2013 to 1,155.
Just 8% of LaFayette’s working residents have a job in town. The median household income for LaFayette comes to $114,000, where New York’s towns sit at $82,000 and U.S. towns at $80,000. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in the town rose by 389, to 1,155. Among residents in the town, 4.2% live below the poverty line.
| LaFayette | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $114,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.2% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Trails total 11 miles in 5 parks and preserves. LaFayette’s concentration of trails is 0.3 miles per square mile.
| LaFayette | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.4% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jamesville Beach County Park | 1.2 mi | 142 |
| 2. Stafford Park | 0.9 mi | 19 |
| 3. Cherry Valley Preserve | — | 41 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Federal disaster aid has reached households in LaFayette after 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2021. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 74% of U.S. communities. This New York town has had 11 paid flood insurance claims since 1996.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Syracuse Hancock Intl Ap weather station, 14 miles away, records that 128 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 99% of U.S. towns. The Syracuse Hancock Intl Ap weather station, 14 miles away, records that about 10 days a year reach 90°: fewer than most of the country, but more than 78% of New York places with climate records.
July afternoons reach 80° and January nights drop to 14°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
For adults 25 and older in LaFayette, the share who hold a bachelor’s degree or more is 44%. No broad age group is more than 4 points off the New York average. The town’s midpoint age comes in at 45.5 years.
| LaFayette | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 44% | 32% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 17% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 45.5 years | 42.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 20% | 18% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| LaFayette | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5.5% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.5% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.1% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.1% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.2% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.7% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 20.9% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.3% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.7% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.4% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 20.2% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.8% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 18.9% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.8% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 18.9% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,900, single groups can be off by several points
In LaFayette, the going rate for rent is $1,298 a month. The share of households in LaFayette who live in a home they own: 79%.
| LaFayette | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 79% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,298 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
7 within 15 miles of the center of LaFayette
About 6 of every 100 LaFayette residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New York.
Town in Onondaga County, New York, U.S.
LaFayette ( Onondaga: Deyoʼswé·geʼ ) is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 4,910. The town is named after the Marquis de Lafayette, a key figure in the French and American revolutions, and widely considered a national hero of France and the United States. LaFayette is in the southern part of Onondaga County, south of Syracuse.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with LaFayette.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its B; DeWitt (B) is closest.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LaFayette | #316 | B | B− | — | C+ | A |
| Pompey | #146 | A− | C | — | A | A |
| Otisco | — | — | C+ | — | B | A− |
| Onondaga | #232 | B+ | C | — | B− | A |
| DeWitt | #285 | B | C+ | C− | B+ | A− |
Otisco has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. LaFayette, Pompey, Otisco and Onondaga report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare LaFayette with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. LaFayette grades B overall, better than 60% of U.S. towns and #316 of 745 in New York. It grades A for health and C+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
The typical home is worth about $229,000, 56% 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−.
2 notable people were born here, including T. B. Terry and Lars Tiffany.
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