Is Lee a good place to live?
Lee grades C− overall, ranked 613th of 745 in New York, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. On the other side, its public schools trail 92% of New York towns on state tests and graduation. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $94K. A typical home there costs about $218K, 3.1 years of the Utica metro’s $70K median household income. Only 32 of New York’s 1,187 towns score lower on civic life. Lee’s median age is 52.8 years, where New York’s towns sit at 42.9 years and U.S. towns at 40.5 years. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 85% of U.S. towns.
What makes Lee stand out
Where Lee beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
96% of working residents leave Lee for work
Where Lee’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Lee grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Lee is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Lee: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lee, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Lee.
Lee gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and sends most of its workers to Rome and beyond, but it trails even towns with similar incomes on health.
Lee earns a D for schools
Its public schools are run by the Rome City School District. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stokes Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 368 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Most working residents commute out of Lee
Lee has 347 jobs for its 2,612 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 439 in 2013 to 347.
Most working residents leave Lee for work: only 4% work in town. Since 2013, Lee has lost 92 jobs, to 347 in 2023. 5.8% of residents live below the poverty line in Lee.
| Lee | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 5.8% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.1% | 10% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $94,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Lee faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 70% of U.S. communities. Since 2003, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lee.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Lee, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
The Camden weather station, 16 miles away, records that 151 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 99% of U.S. towns.
Lee has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. Lee’s July high is 80°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Lee is less healthy than 57% of U.S. towns
Against the 9,412 U.S. towns with household incomes like Lee’s, it is less healthy than 76%, so it trails even them.
Lee beats the New York average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 38% of Lee adults have high blood pressure.
| Lee | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 34% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Lee | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.1% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 11.8% | 14.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.9% | 6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Lee has set aside 6.9% of its land for conservation
2.3 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Canada Creek State Forest, at 618 acres. The trail density in Lee is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Lee | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.9% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Canada Creek State Forest | — | 618 |
| 2. Point Rock State Forest | — | 577 |
| 3. West Branch State Forest | 0.1 mi | 521 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
JMA Wireless Dome and 21 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lee. Close and well known come first.
37 mi Stadium & arenaJMA Wireless Dome
8 mi National MonumentFort Stanwix National Monument78K visitors a year
38 mi LakeOnondaga Lake34 mi LandmarkFort Dayton
21 mi Stadium & arenaUtica Memorial Auditorium
30 mi State parkGreen Lakes State ParkPhoto credits
JMA Wireless Dome: Jimhoward03, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fort Stanwix National Monument: NPS photo, Public domain · Onondaga Lake: R. A. Nonenmacher, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Utica Memorial Auditorium: Doug Kerr, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Green Lakes State Park: Ebedgert at English Wikipedia, Public domain
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Everything we know about Lee
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Lee; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Lee residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
About Lee
Town in New York, United States
Lee is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 6,486 at the 2010 census. The Town of Lee is northwest of Rome.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 46 sq mi
- Elevation
- 938 ft
- Area code
- 315
Lee’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Lee.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee | #613 | C− | B | — | D | C+ |
| Annsville | #620 | C− | A− | — | B− | C+ |
| Western | — | — | C | — | D | B |
| Rome | #687 | D | B− | C | D | C− |
| Ava | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Lake Delta | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Western has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Lee, Annsville and Western report no FBI crime data of their own. Ava and Lake Delta aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Lee with a neighbor →
Questions about Lee
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Lee, NY a good place to live?
Lee grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #613 of 745 in New York. It grades C+ for health and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Lee, NY expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.