Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Mount Vernon grades D overall, ranked 684th of 745 in New York, mostly because of schools and safety. Its schools rank behind 83% of the state's. It reports more crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns, including 354 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. In its favor, few places in the country are easier to get around without a car. Mount Vernon’s average trip to work is 35 minutes, where New York’s towns sit at 25 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Mount Vernon is home to Montefiore School of Nursing. Only 68 of New York’s 1,187 towns score lower on civic life.
Where Mount Vernon beats most towns.
Arthur Leonard SchawlowEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Mount Vernon is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 8%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,700 in 1870, 73,893 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 7 maps from 1897 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Mount Vernon. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaYankee Stadium
Big draw12 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw13 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife StadiumCentral Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Madison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Yankee Stadium: Matt Boulton, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Mount Vernon, 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 Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon has more 90° days than almost anywhere else in New York, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New York and trails Bronxville and its other neighbors on schools.
3.2 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. The trail density in Mount Vernon is 0.7 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Willsons Woods Park, at 34 acres.
| Mount Vernon | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.3% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hunt's Woods Park | 1.3 mi | 27 |
| 2. Hartley Park | 0.7 mi | 5 |
| 3. Willsons Woods Park | 0.5 mi | 34 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Each of its 5 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its C−, Bronxville highest at A+.
Its public schools are run by the Mount Vernon School District. Three of its 19 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 470 | C |
| Mount Vernon High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,062 | B |
| Mount Vernon STEAM AcademyTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 747 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 1,519 to 1,339 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Mount Vernon’s violent crime rate is 4.9 per 1,000 residents. Mount Vernon reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 80% report less. Mount Vernon’s property crime rate is 13.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Mount Vernon | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.9 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13.8 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Most working residents leave Mount Vernon for work: only 9% work in town. 15% of residents live below the poverty line in Mount Vernon. The top destinations are New York (49%), Yonkers (5%) and White Plains (4%).
| Mount Vernon | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 8.7% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
82 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 10 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 70% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 82 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Mount Vernon.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Dobbs Ferry-ardsley weather station, 7 miles away, records that about 19 days a year reach 90°, the highest of 2,222 New York places with climate records. The Dobbs Ferry-ardsley weather station, 7 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 189 days, the #2 highest of 2,222 New York places with climate records.
Mount Vernon has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 26° and about 33 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 6 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $594K) costs more against local pay than in 82% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Yonkers is next at $702K.
The typical Mount Vernon home is worth about $594,000, up 4.8% in a year, 13% above the New York typical home. 43% of Mount Vernon households own their home.
| Mount Vernon | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 43% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,629 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 55% | 49% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the New York average. Mount Vernon has lost 2.2% of its people since 2020, down to 72,304 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 36% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 40% across New York.
| Mount Vernon | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 32% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 21% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 40.7 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
56% women, 44% men
About 80 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.6 points). Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women. Among residents 25 to 34, 59% are women (NY 50%). Median age: women 42.4, men 39.0.
| Mount Vernon | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.8% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.3% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.5% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.4% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.9% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.4% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.5% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.7% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.4% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 14.2% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.8% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.5% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.6% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.2% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.7% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Among 755 New York towns, just 4 have a lower share of adults who binge drink than Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon beats the New York average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13.
| Mount Vernon | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 21% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 37% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 17% | 16% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Mount Vernon | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.7% | 7.7% |
| Fewer binge drinkers | 12.8% | 16.3% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 14% | 8.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
79 within 15 miles of the center of Mount Vernon
About 7 of every 100 Mount Vernon residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New York.
Where Mount Vernon’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
5 places in Mount Vernon on the National Register of Historic Places.
44 notable people were born in Mount Vernon.
City in New York, United States
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the borough of the Bronx. As of the 2020 census, Mount Vernon had a population of 73,893, making it the eighth-largest city in the state and largest African-American majority city in the state. Mount Vernon has two major sections. South-side Mount Vernon is more urban, while north-side Mount Vernon is more residential. Mount Vernon's downtown business district is on the city's south side, which includes City Hall, Mount Vernon's main post office, Mount Vernon Public Library, office buildings, and other municipal establishments.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Mount Vernon.
All 7 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; New York City (C−) is closest.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Vernon | #684 | D | D | C− | C− | B− |
| Yonkers | #552 | C | D− | C+ | C+ | B |
| Pelham | #68 | A | D− | — | A | A+ |
| Pelham | #18 | A+ | D− | A | A | A+ |
| New York | #651 | C− | D− | D | — | B+ |
| Pelham Manor | #212 | B+ | D | C− | A | A+ |
| Eastchester | #16 | A+ | D− | A | A | A+ |
| Bronxville | #10 | A+ | D− | A | A+ | A+ |
Pelham reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Mount Vernon with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Mount Vernon grades D overall, better than 11% of U.S. towns and #684 of 745 in New York. It grades B− for health, C− for safety and C− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. That is 6 years of the area's median household income ($99,155 across the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
44 notable people were born here, including Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Art Carney.
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