Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Moriah gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $138K for a typical one, or 1.9 years of the county’s $72K median household income. It grades C− overall, ranked 614th of 745 in New York. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its schools rank behind 89% of the state's. On the plus side, it has 32 miles of trail and 37% conserved land. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 92% of U.S. towns, with 9 places on the National Register. 37% of the land in Moriah is conserved, where New York’s towns sit at 5.2% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Hammond Pond Wild Forest, at 5,322 acres with 4.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. On civic life, just 16 of New York’s 1,187 towns do worse.
Where Moriah beats most towns.
Census counts: 842 in 1820, a peak of 7,379 in 1880, 4,716 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and a map from 1986 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Moriah is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Moriah, 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 Moriah.
Moriah sends many workers across the state line to Middlebury, keeps more of its land conserved than most of New York and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
Each of its 3 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its D, Westport highest at C.
Its public schools are run by the Moriah Central School District. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moriah Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 374 | C |
| Moriah Junior-Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 292 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Its 16,678 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 98% of New York towns.
32 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Moriah Wilderness Preserve | 8.9 mi | 3,498 |
| 2. Hammond Pond Wild Forest | 4.6 mi | 5,322 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
25% of working residents cross a state line to work, Middlebury among the top destinations. Jobs based here fell from 1,344 in 2013 to 1,069.
About one in 5 of Moriah’s working residents works in town. At 32 minutes, Moriah’s average trip to work is above both New York’s towns (25 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). Since 2013, Moriah has lost 275 jobs, to 1,069 in 2023.
| Moriah | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 22% | 10% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Moriah has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Moriah is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 9,605 U.S. towns with household incomes like Moriah’s, it is healthier than 50%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income. All 3 graded neighbors score healthier than its C, from Crown Point (B) to Elizabethtown (B+).
Moriah beats the New York average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 16% of Moriah adults report frequent physical distress.
| Moriah | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 25% | 25% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 34% | 35% |
| What stands out | Moriah | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.4% | 6% |
| More smokers | 16.7% | 11.3% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.1% | 6.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Moriah’s property crime rate is 0 per 1,000 residents. Moriah's reported crime rate is well below New York's. No violent crimes were reported in 2025.
| Moriah | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 7.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 60% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Moriah since 2019.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Moriah. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi LandmarkFort Ticonderoga
Big draw34 mi LakeLake Champlain
21 mi MountainMount Marcy
30 mi LakeLake George
29 mi MountainWhiteface Mountain
21 mi LakeLake Tear of the CloudsFort Ticonderoga: Mwanner, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Champlain: Copernicus Sentinel-2, ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · Mount Marcy: Daniel Tripp, Public domain · Lake George: Sixlocal, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Whiteface Mountain: Mwanner, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Tear of the Clouds: TheKilimanjaro, CC BY-SA 4.0
None within 15 miles of Moriah; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Moriah residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
9 places in Moriah on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New York, United States
Moriah is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. Lying within the Adirondack Park, it is situated in the eastern part of the county, 47 miles (76 km) by road south-southwest of Burlington, Vermont, 55 miles (89 km) south of Plattsburgh, 115 miles (185 km) north of Albany, and 116 miles (187 km) south of Montreal, Quebec. The population was 4,798 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Moriah.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moriah | #614 | C− | A− | — | D | C |
| North Hudson | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Crown Point | — | — | B− | — | C− | B |
| Westport | — | — | B | — | C | B+ |
| Elizabethtown | — | — | A | — | C | B+ |
| Port Henry | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Crown Point, Westport and Elizabethtown have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Moriah, Crown Point, Westport and Elizabethtown report no FBI crime data of their own. North Hudson and Port Henry aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Moriah with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Moriah grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #614 of 745 in New York. It grades C for health and D for schools. Schools 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 A−.
2 notable people were born here, including Raymond R. Wright and Chester B. McLaughlin.
