Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Owego is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, 558th among New York's 745 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its public schools beat 63% of New York towns on state tests and graduation. Expect to pay for it: homes are expensive, about $147K for a typical one and 2.3 times the Binghamton metro’s $65K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 99% of U.S. towns. 29% of residents live below the poverty line in Owego, against 9.5% in New York’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. On hazard risk, just 1 of New York’s 1,216 towns do worse. Owego is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns.
Where Owego beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Owego’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 Owego is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,741 in 1820, a low of 1,741 in 1820, 18,728 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1869 and 3 maps from 1903 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Owego, 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 Owego.
Owego draws workers from Owego and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New York (mostly inland flooding).
2,394 jobs are based in Owego, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 19.5 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Most working residents leave Owego for work: only 17% work in town. The average trip to work in Owego is 20 minutes. Since 2013, Owego has added 598 jobs, to 2,394 in 2023.
| Owego | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 100% of New York towns, with expected losses of about $751 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on. 653 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 168 properties have flooded more than once.
Owego’s FEMA risk score is 90 of 100. Since 1979, 653 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Owego.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Owego has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 16° and about 49 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
29.1% of residents live below the poverty line, against 14% across New York, which weighs on its C for jobs and income.
Children under 18 are 28% of residents (21% statewide). 38% of Owego adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| Owego | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 37 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 32% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 20% | 18% |
54% women, 46% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.7 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Owego | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 14.8% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.1% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.8% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.2% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.3% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.9% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.3% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.8% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.4% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 22.1% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.2% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 14.2% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.9% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.3% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,300, single groups can be off by several points
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 8,950 U.S. towns with household incomes like Owego’s, it is healthier than 64%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Owego beats the New York average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 16% of adults report frequent physical distress in Owego.
| Owego | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 34% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Owego | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults lacking emotional support | 21.8% | 26.4% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.5% | 6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.3 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Marvin Park, at 35 acres.
| Owego | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.7% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Marvin Park | — | 35 |
| 2. Brick Pond Wetland Preserve | — | 24 |
| 3. Hyde Park | — | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 2.3 years of the Binghamton metro’s $65K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 81% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Owego. Close and well known come first.
36 mi State parkWatkins Glen State Park
35 mi State parkTaughannock Falls State Park
26 mi Stadium & arenaSchoellkopf Field
27 mi MuseumHerbert F. Johnson Museum of Art80K visitors a year
18 mi Stadium & arenaBroome County Veterans Memorial Arena28 mi Ski areaGreek Peak Mountain Resort43 runs · 828 ft verticalWatkins Glen State Park: Flickr user: Peter Rivera Stamford, Connecticut https://www.flickr.com/people/ri, CC BY 2.0 · Taughannock Falls State Park: Michael C. Rygel, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Schoellkopf Field: Alex Sergeev, (www.asergeev.com) Originally uploaded by en:User:Cornell010, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art: Dmadeo, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena: Bmoore2009 at English Wikipedia, Public domain
None within 15 miles of Owego; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Owego residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
8 notable people were born in Owego.
Town in Tioga County, New York, US
Owego is a town in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 18,728 at the 2020 census. The name is derived from the Iroquois word Ahwaga, meaning "where the valley widens". Owego is in the southeastern corner of the county, west of Binghamton. The village of Owego is in the western part of the town.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Owego.
Owego and Tioga report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Owego with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Owego grades C overall, better than 29% of U.S. towns and #558 of 745 in New York. It grades C+ for health, C+ for safety and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
The typical home is worth about $147,000, 72% 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.
8 notable people were born here, including Isaac S. Catlin and Adam Weitsman.
