Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Lisbon gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $173K for a typical one, or 2.7 years of the Massena area’s $63K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 457th of 745 graded towns in New York. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. Lisbon has 5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Lisbon Town Hall and Lisbon Railroad Depot. Lisbon's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 82% of U.S. towns.
Where Lisbon beats most towns.
Census counts: 930 in 1820, a peak of 5,640 in 1860, 4,221 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 2014 and 3 maps from 1904 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Lisbon is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lisbon, 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 Lisbon.
Lisbon has commutes shorter than most of New York and has property taxes about half the New York norm.
The median property tax bill is $3,137, against $6,582 across New York, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Typical home values rose 5.7% in the year to September 2026. At $944 a month, Lisbon’s median rent is below both the New York town median ($1,103 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month).
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Lisbon Central School District. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Lisbon Central School, with 540 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maple Ridge School PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades 1–8 | Grades 1–8 | 27 | – |
| Lisbon Central SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 540 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 86% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The average commute for its 1,405 working residents takes 19.1 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Most working residents leave Lisbon for work: only 12% work in town. At 19 minutes, Lisbon’s average trip to work is against 25 minutes in New York’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Jobs based in Lisbon grew to 472 in 2023, 48 more than in 2013.
| Lisbon | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 10% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 8% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $74,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Lisbon has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Lisbon’s July high is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
13 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Galop Island State Park, at 700 acres. The trail density in Lisbon is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Lisbon | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Galop Island State Park | — | 700 |
| 2. Swallow Bluffs Wildlife Management Area | — | 33 |
| 3. Lisbon Forest Preserve Detached Parcel | — | 33 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
41% of adults have obesity in Lisbon. Lisbon beats the New York average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. 19% of adults binge drink in Lisbon.
| Lisbon | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 33% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 32% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 81% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | Lisbon | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 13.2% | 17.2% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.3% | 7.9% |
| More adults with obesity | 41.4% | 28.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Lisbon
About 2 of every 100 Lisbon residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Lisbon’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 notable people were born in Lisbon.
Town in New York, United States
Lisbon is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 4,102 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Lisburn, a town in the North of Ireland where several of the early settlers of the town were from. is in the northern part of the county and is northwest of Canton.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Lisbon.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lisbon | #457 | C+ | B+ | — | C+ | B− |
| Ogdensburg | #671 | D | B+ | D | C | C− |
| Canton | #447 | C+ | C+ | — | B− | B |
| Waddington | — | — | B+ | — | C+ | C+ |
| Oswegatchie | #381 | B− | A | — | C+ | C− |
| Madrid | — | — | B+ | — | C+ | C |
Waddington and Madrid have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Lisbon, Canton, Waddington, Oswegatchie and Madrid report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Lisbon with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lisbon grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns and #457 of 745 in New York. It grades B− for health and C+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
4 notable people were born here, including James O'Neill and James O'Neill.
