Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Liberty earns a D, 704th of 745 graded towns in New York, mostly because of schools and incomes. Its public schools trail 97% of New York towns on state tests and graduation. The median household income is $68K, and 12% of residents live below the poverty line. What it does well: natural-hazard risk is low. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 92% of U.S. towns, with 13 places on the National Register. Its National Register listings include Liberty Village Historic District and St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church. Liberty is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Walnut Mountain Park, 251 acres with 4.8 miles of trail.
Where Liberty beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Liberty Village Historic District| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Liberty Elementary School | PK–4 | 664 |
| Liberty Middle School | 5–8 | 516 |
| Liberty High School | 9–12 | 578 |
Census counts: 9,632 in 2000, 10,159 in 2020. The archive holds 15 old photos and papers going back to 1875 and 2 maps from 1942 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Liberty is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Liberty, 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 Liberty.
Liberty is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has cooler summers than nearly all U.S. towns and trades workers with Thompson and other neighbors.
Each of its 5 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than that grade, Callicoon highest at B−.
Public schools: the Liberty Central School District. The largest public high school is Liberty High School, with 578 students. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 664 | C− |
| Liberty High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 578 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in Liberty than in 86% of U.S. communities. Expected losses in Liberty break down as 65% from inland flooding and 12% from cold waves. The national flood insurance program has paid 15 claims here since 2000.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Trails total 14 miles in 3 parks and preserves. Liberty’s density of trails comes in at 0.2 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves here: 3, covering 330 acres.
| Liberty | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.6% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Walnut Mountain Park | 4.8 mi | 251 |
| 2. Francis A. Hanofee Memorial Park | — | 67 |
| 3. Smith Road Unit | — | 12 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
July afternoons average 78.2°, cooler than in 95% of U.S. towns; January nights average 13.8°.
In Liberty, the July high is 78°F, where New York’s towns sit at 81°F and U.S. towns at 85°F. Its January low comes in at 14°F. About 70 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Liberty | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 78°F | 81°F | 85°F |
| January low | 14°F | 16°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Liberty has about as many jobs (3,874) as working residents, but only 919 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 24.6 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Among working residents in Liberty, 23% work locally, above both New York’s towns (10%) and U.S. towns (8%). 7.8% of Liberty workers do their job from home. Half the trips to work are shorter than 13 miles. The top destinations are Thompson (16%), New York (12%) and Fallsburg (9%).
| Liberty | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 23% | 10% | 8% |
| Work from home | 7.8% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 10,334 U.S. towns with household incomes like Liberty’s, it is healthier than 62%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
The share of adults 18 to 64 in Liberty who have no health insurance: 8.6%. 30% of adults in Liberty get no exercise outside work; 15% report frequent physical distress.
| Liberty | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 25% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 21% | 23% |
| What stands out | Liberty | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 8.3% | 6% |
| More adults with heart disease | 7.9% | 6.1% |
| More smokers | 14.6% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Liberty
About 2 of every 100 Liberty residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
13 places in Liberty on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 notable people were born in Liberty.
Town in New York, United States
Liberty is a town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 10,159 at the 2020 census. The village is bisected by NY 52 and NY 55, and is crossed by NY 17.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Liberty.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty | #704 | D | C | — | D− | B− |
| Rockland | #660 | D | C+ | — | C | B− |
| Callicoon | #479 | C+ | C | — | B− | B+ |
| Bethel | #708 | D | D | — | D | B+ |
| Fallsburg | #674 | D | C− | A− | D | C+ |
| Neversink | #516 | C | C+ | — | C+ | B+ |
| Swan Lake | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Liberty, Rockland, Callicoon, Bethel and Neversink report no FBI crime data of their own. Swan Lake isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Liberty with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Liberty grades D overall, better than 8% of U.S. towns and #704 of 745 in New York. It grades B− for health and D− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D−.
8 notable people were born here, including Zoe Leonard and Rosetta Sherwood Hall.
