Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Little Valley’s best subject grades are an A+ for the outdoors and an A for history; its weakest is a D for incomes. Only 15 of New York’s 1,213 towns score lower on health. 25% of the land in Little Valley is conserved, where New York’s towns sit at 5.2% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. On the outdoors, just 39 of New York’s 1,216 towns do better. The biggest place to walk is Rock City State Forest, 2,273 acres with 11.6 miles of trail. Little Valley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Little Valley beats most towns.
Where Little Valley’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 Little Valley is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 484 in 1820, a low of 336 in 1830, 1,672 in 2020. The archive holds 4 maps from 1923 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Little Valley, 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 Little Valley.
Among residents in Little Valley, 21% live below the poverty line. For most workers, Little Valley is a place to come home to: only 13% work in town. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Little Valley dropped by 1,362, to 1,556. The typical household income for Little Valley comes to $56,000.
| Little Valley | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 21% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $56,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cattaraugus County JailLargest public school before high school | – | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Little Valley: 41% of adults sleep under 7 hours. Only 4 of the 756 New York towns we compare have a higher share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Little Valley.
| Little Valley | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 14% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 25% | 25% |
| What stands out | Little Valley | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 20.1% | 11.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.6% | 6% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.2% | 12.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Walkers can cover 34 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. Little Valley’s density of trails stands at 1.1 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves locally: 5, covering 4,361 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rock City State Forest | 11.6 mi | 2,273 |
| 2. Elkdale State Forest | 6.7 mi | 426 |
| 3. McCarty Hill State Forest | 4.8 mi | 1,288 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA puts 90% of Little Valley’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding. Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 77% of U.S. communities. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Little Valley after 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2009.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Little Valley, the typical July afternoon high is 79°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Little Valley. Close and well known come first.
Big draw38 mi Stadium & arenaHighmark Stadium
Big draw38 mi Stadium & arenaRalph Wilson Stadium
33 mi WaterfallEternal Flame Falls
30 mi DamKinzua Dam
33 mi LakeChautauqua Lake
8 mi State parkAllegany State ParkHighmark Stadium: James161723, CC0 · Ralph Wilson Stadium: User Evilarry on en.wikipedia, Public domain · Eternal Flame Falls: Mpmajewski, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Kinzua Dam: Niagara, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Chautauqua Lake: Banderas, Public domain · Allegany State Park: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0
None within 15 miles of Little Valley; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Little Valley residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Town in New York, United States
Little Valley is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 1,672 at the 2020 census. The town is named after its local geographical setting, a relative comparison of two tributaries (the other being the neighboring Great Valley) of the Allegheny River. The town of Little Valley is centrally located in the county, north of the city of Salamanca. The town contains a village also named Little Valley, which is the county seat.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Little Valley.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Valley | — | — | B | — | B− | D |
| Mansfield | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Great Valley | — | — | A− | — | C | C+ |
| Salamanca · Salamanca | #662 | D | A− | C+ | C− | D |
| Napoli | — | — | A | — | B− | C |
Little Valley, Great Valley and Napoli have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Little Valley, Great Valley and Napoli report no FBI crime data of their own. Mansfield isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Salamanca and Salamanca are one community, graded once. Compare Little Valley with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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 Helen Culver and George Buffington.
