Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Owasco grades D overall, 689th of 745 graded towns in New York. One bright spot: the median household earns $102K. Owasco’s median rent is $2,109 a month, above both New York’s towns ($1,098 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. On civic life, just 57 of New York’s 1,187 towns do worse.
Where Owasco beats most towns.
Where Owasco’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 Owasco is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,290 in 1820, 3,793 in 2010. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1904 and 4 maps from 1899 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Owasco, 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 Owasco.
Owasco gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New York (mostly inland flooding) and trails even towns with similar incomes on health.
9.6 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. Emerson Park, at 61 acres with 1.4 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Owasco | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.3% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Emerson Park | 1.4 mi | 61 |
| 2. Owasco Park | 0.3 mi | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Auburn City School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owasco Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 356 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
The average commute for its 1,625 working residents takes 23.4 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Most working residents leave Owasco for work: only 8% work in town. 4.3% of Owasco residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Auburn (25%), Syracuse (8%) and Skaneateles (7%).
| Owasco | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 4.3% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $102,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 13% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
People 65 and older are 29% of residents (18% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (23% statewide). The median age in Owasco is 53.4 years. Owasco has lost 2.6% of its people since 2020, down to 3,468 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Owasco | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 53.4 years | 42.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 29% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 50% | 32% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 15% | 20% | 22% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.7 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Owasco | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.5% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.6% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.2% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.9% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.7% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 18.6% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 20.2% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.3% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.1% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 12.6% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.9% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 18.7% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.4% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 34.2% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,500, single groups can be off by several points
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 89% of New York towns, with expected losses of about $464 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
Owasco’s FEMA risk score is 68 of 100. Since 1981, 6 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Owasco.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
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.
Owasco has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 80° and January nights drop to 16°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 8,244 U.S. towns with household incomes like Owasco’s, it is less healthy than 83%, so it trails even them.
Owasco beats the New York average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 15% of adults report frequent physical distress in Owasco.
| Owasco | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Owasco | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.5% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 12.7% | 14.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.8% | 6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Owasco. Close and well known come first.
21 mi Stadium & arenaJMA Wireless Dome
26 mi LakeSeneca Lake
18 mi LakeCayuga Lake
20 mi LakeOnondaga Lake
25 mi State parkTaughannock Falls State Park
37 mi MountainCumorahJMA Wireless Dome: Jimhoward03, 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 · Onondaga Lake: R. A. Nonenmacher, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Taughannock Falls State Park: Michael C. Rygel, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cumorah: Hillcumorahpageantstage.jpg: la salebete derivative work: Eustress (talk), CC BY-SA 2.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Owasco
About 4 of every 100 Owasco residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Town in New York, United States
Owasco is a town in Cayuga County, New York, United States. It is part of the traditional territory of the Cayuga nation. The population was 3,793 at the 2010 census. Owasco is in the eastern part of Cayuga County and is at the southeast city line of Auburn. The town borders Owasco Lake, from where it gets its name.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Owasco.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owasco | #689 | D | C− | — | C | C+ |
| Melrose Park | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Auburn | #713 | D | C+ | C | D | C− |
| Fleming | — | — | C− | — | C− | B− |
| Niles | — | — | C− | — | C+ | B− |
| Skaneateles | #109 | A | C− | — | A | A− |
| Sennett | #234 | B+ | C+ | — | A− | C+ |
Fleming and Niles have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Owasco, Fleming, Niles, Skaneateles and Sennett report no FBI crime data of their own. Melrose Park isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Owasco with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Owasco grades D overall, better than 10% of U.S. towns and #689 of 745 in New York. It grades C+ for health and C for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. That is 4.2 years of the area's median household income ($67,904 across the Auburn, NY area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
2 notable people were born here, including Cornelia Adele Strong Fassett and Roeliff Brinkerhoff.
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