Lake Carmel in pictures
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2008 and 5 maps from 1892 on.
Explore the history →Each edition grades its towns against each other only.

The town, home to 7,854 people, lies in New York.
Lake Carmel’s average commute is 36 minutes, above both the New York town median (25 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). 14% of the land in Lake Carmel is conserved, above both the New York town median (5.2%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). We don’t grade Lake Carmel yet; the figures below are still real.
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2008 and 5 maps from 1892 on.
Explore the history →Where Lake Carmel’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Ordered by what stands out in Lake Carmel.
Expected losses in Lake Carmel break down as 53% from inland flooding and 10% from cold waves. On expected storm and flood damage, Lake Carmel sits below 95% of U.S. communities. 16 flood insurance claims have been paid here since 1979.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median commute is under 27 miles. The typical household income for Lake Carmel comes to $109,000. For most workers, Lake Carmel is a place to come home to: only 5% work in town. Employers in Lake Carmel added 159 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 926.
| Lake Carmel | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $109,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.7% | 10% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 8.3% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Lake Carmel has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. Summer afternoons peak near 83° in July, and January nights bottom out around 18°; snowfall runs to about 58 inches a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Across 2 parks and preserves: 0.8 miles of trail. Lake Carmel’s density of trails is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ryan's Field | — | 19 |
| 2. Hill and Dale Community Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
12% of Lake Carmel adults report frequent physical distress. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Lake Carmel is ahead of New York on 7 and behind on 1. Two figures for adults here: 29% have obesity, 15% report frequent mental distress.
| Lake Carmel | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 21% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 35% |
| What stands out | Lake Carmel | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.6% | 17.2% |
| Fewer adults without reliable transportation | 6.7% | 8.6% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.8% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
By age, Lake Carmel looks like New York: each broad group is within 4 points. The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 35%, against 40% across New York. 23% of residents are under 18 here.
| Lake Carmel | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 23% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 32% | 29% |
| Median age | 40.3 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.2 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Lake Carmel | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.1% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.6% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.1% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.6% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.8% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15.2% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.3% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.3% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.8% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 34.3% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.3% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.5% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The going rate for rent in Lake Carmel is $1,565 a month. The share of households in Lake Carmel who own their home: 86%. Homes sold in Lake Carmel spent a median 39 days on the market.
| Lake Carmel | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,565 a month | $1,101 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 86% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lake Carmel. Close and well known come first.
Big draw15 mi MuseumUnited States Military Academy
30 mi LandmarkFerncliff Cemetery
24 mi National Historic SiteHome of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site102K visitors a year
11 mi LakeCandlewood Lake
3 mi State parkWonder Lake State Park
16 mi Stadium & arenaMichie StadiumUnited States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain · Ferncliff Cemetery: Anthony22 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site: Crunch, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Candlewood Lake: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Wonder Lake State Park: Anthony22 (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Michie Stadium: John Pellino, Public domain
Lake Carmel is unincorporated, so Putnam County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
1 within 15 miles of the center of Lake Carmel
About 5 of every 100 Lake Carmel residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Census-designated place in New York, United States
Lake Carmel is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Kent in Putnam County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, Lake Carmel had a population of 8,069. The hamlet is centered around Lake Carmel, a 1.6 mile long manmade lake in the southeastern corner of the township and just north of hamlet of Carmel within the town of Carmel. The lake and surrounding community was developed by the Smadbeck brothers, who excavated and dammed a swamp in the 1920s and sold lots through the now-defunct New York Daily Mirror. The hamlet is the seat of the volunteer Lake Carmel Fire Department; its fire district covers the eastern half of the township, and of the Kent town government.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Lake Carmel.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Carmel | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kent | #141 | A− | D | A | B− | A |
| Patterson | #505 | C+ | D− | — | B− | B+ |
| Carmel | #79 | A | D | A | B+ | A |
Patterson reports no FBI crime data of its own. Lake Carmel isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Lake Carmel with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
We don’t grade Lake Carmel yet; the figures below are still real.
Ask a question, answer one, post a photo or an event. Free, and the parts only a neighbor would know are the parts worth reading.