Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
5,959 people live in this town, settled in 1794.
Overall, Marcellus earns an A, which places it 129th of 745 in New York. Nationally, it does better than 85% of U.S. towns. It does especially well on health: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 88% of the country. Add schools to its strengths (A−): its public schools beat nearly four fifths of New York towns on state tests and graduation. The trade-off is cost of living (C+) — the typical home is worth about $246K, 3.3 years of the Syracuse metro’s $75K median household income. The town has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Dan Bradley House and Tefft-Steadman House. 45% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more here, where New York’s towns sit at 32% and U.S. towns at 29%. The biggest place to walk is Baltimore Woods Nature Center, 277 acres with 5.1 miles of trail.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places · OpenStreetMap.
Where Marcellus beats most towns.
Where Marcellus’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 Marcellus is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 6,503 in 1820, a low of 2,337 in 1870, 5,866 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1933 and 4 maps from 1899 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Marcellus. Close and well known come first.
12 mi Stadium & arenaJMA Wireless Dome
12 mi LakeOnondaga Lake
35 mi LakeSeneca Lake
26 mi LakeCayuga Lake
31 mi State parkTaughannock Falls State Park
11 mi Stadium & arenaOncenter War Memorial ArenaJMA Wireless Dome: Jimhoward03, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Onondaga Lake: R. A. Nonenmacher, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Seneca Lake: RochesterNY, Public domain · Cayuga Lake: The original uploader was Cornellrockey at English Wikipedia. Later versions we, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Taughannock Falls State Park: Michael C. Rygel, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Oncenter War Memorial Arena: Crazyale, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Marcellus, 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 Marcellus.
Marcellus gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and has less food insecurity than most of New York.
Its widest gap with New York is food insecurity: 7.9% of its 4,244 adults worry about having enough food, against 17.2% statewide.
Just over a third of Marcellus adults sleep under 7 hours. Of 32 CDC measures, Marcellus beats the New York average on 16 and trails it on 4. In Marcellus, 19% of adults get no exercise outside work, and 9.8% smoke cigarettes.
| Marcellus | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 81% | 79% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 25% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.8% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Marcellus | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.9% | 17.2% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.8% | 7.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The largest public high school is Marcellus High School, with 435 students. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Its public schools are run by the Marcellus Central School District.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| C S Driver Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 4–8 | Grades 4–8 | 501 | C+ |
| Marcellus High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 435 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
4 flood insurance claims have been paid in Marcellus since 1978. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 87% of U.S. communities. FEMA puts 71% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 7% to tornadoes.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Only 11% of working residents stay in Marcellus for work; the rest commute out. Marcellus’ typical journey to work is 28 minutes. The top destinations are Syracuse (25%), DeWitt (6%) and Skaneateles (5%). The share of residents in Marcellus who live below the poverty line: 5.4%.
| Marcellus | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 5.4% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $94,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 13% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Trails total 8.2 miles in 4 parks and preserves. Marcellus’ density of trails stands at 0.3 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves locally: 4, covering 365 acres.
| Marcellus | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.2% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Baltimore Woods Nature Center | 5.1 mi | 277 |
| 2. Marcellus Park | 2.4 mi | 55 |
| 3. Holdridge Habitat Woods | — | 20 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
In Marcellus, the median age is 49.2 years. Adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (23% statewide); people 65 and older are 25% of residents (18% statewide). 19% of residents are under 18 locally. College graduates make up 45% of adults 25 and older, against 40% across New York.
| Marcellus | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 49.2 years | 42.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 45% | 32% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 25% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 19% | 20% | 22% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.2 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Marcellus | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.7% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.9% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.6% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.1% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.3% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.4% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 17.3% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.7% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 11% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 20.6% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.9% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 14.2% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.2% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 19.2% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The Skaneateles weather station, 5 miles away, records that 106 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 97% of U.S. towns.
The typical July afternoon high is 79°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Among households in Marcellus, 78% live in a home they own. Marcellus’ median rent comes in at $1,131 a month.
| Marcellus | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 78% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,131 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
8 within 15 miles of the center of Marcellus
About 4 of every 100 Marcellus residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
2 places in Marcellus on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New York, United States
Marcellus is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 6,066. The town was probably named after Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a Roman general, by a clerk interested in the Classics. The Marcellus Formation is a vast geological layer of shale spanning Pennsylvania, West Virginia and parts of other states and Ontario, which is named for an outcropping in or near Marcellus. The Town of Marcellus contains a village also named Marcellus. The town and village are southwest of Syracuse.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Marcellus.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcellus | #129 | A | C+ | — | A− | A |
| Skaneateles | #109 | A | C− | — | A | A− |
| Onondaga | #232 | B+ | C | — | B− | A |
| Camillus | #106 | A | C | B+ | B+ | A |
Marcellus, Skaneateles and Onondaga report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Marcellus with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Marcellus grades A overall, better than 85% of U.S. towns and #129 of 745 in New York. It grades A for health and A− for schools.
The typical home is worth about $246,000, 53% below the New York typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
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