Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Owego is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B− overall, 379th among New York's 745 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: it is healthier than 70% of U.S. towns. It also does better than most on schools: its schools rank ahead of 63% of New York towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: homes are expensive, about $188K for a typical one and 2.9 times the Binghamton metro’s $65K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 93% of U.S. towns, with 10 places on the National Register. Its National Register listings include James C. Beecher House and US Post Office-Owego. 21% of working residents work locally in Owego, above both New York’s towns (10%) and U.S. towns (8%). The biggest place to walk is Oakley Corners State Forest, 893 acres with 13.3 miles of trail.
Where Owego beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,741 in 1820, a low of 1,741 in 1820, 18,728 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1869 and 3 maps from 1903 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Owego is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
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 trades workers with Union and other neighbors, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New York (mostly inland flooding).
Walkers can cover 28 miles of trail in 16 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Owego: 16, covering 1,537 acres. Also worth knowing: the concentration of trails in the town is 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Owego | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.3% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Oakley Corners State Forest | 13.3 mi | 893 |
| 2. Waterman Conservation Education Center | 3.2 mi | 98 |
| 3. Hiawatha Island and River Front Park | 1.4 mi | 118 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The public schools here belong to the Owego-Apalachin Central School District. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. 6 public schools serve Owego, with 1,853 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owego Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 497 | B+ |
| Owego Free AcademyLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 621 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Among adults in Owego, 16% report frequent mental distress. CDC measures, 32 in all: Owego beats New York on 6 and trails on 5. 31% of adults in the town have obesity; 82% had a checkup this year.
| Owego | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 81% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Owego | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.5% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.4% | 17.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.4% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 90% of New York towns, with expected losses of about $437 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on. 390 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 77 properties have flooded more than once.
390 flood insurance claims have been paid in Owego since 1979. The risk rating from FEMA for Owego comes to 69 of 100. Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 88% come from inland flooding. Federal aid has come to Owego households in 10 declared disasters; the latest was in 2019.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The range runs from 16° on a January night to 82° on a July afternoon, with about 49 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Owego has about as many jobs (6,876) as working residents, but only 1,705 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 20.2 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
The share of workers in Owego who work from home: 15%. The top destinations are Union (15%), Binghamton (10%) and Vestal (8%). The town’s average trip to work is 20 minutes. Half commute less than 12 miles.
| Owego | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 15% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $86,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
A bachelor’s degree or higher: 37% of adults 25 and older, vs 40% across New York. Adults 18 to 34 are 17% of residents (23% statewide); people 65 and older are 22% of residents (18% statewide). For Owego, the midpoint age is 43.8 years.
| Owego | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 32% | 29% |
| Median age | 43.8 years | 42.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 22% | 20% | 22% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.5 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Owego | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.7% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.3% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.3% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.6% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.4% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.1% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.4% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.1% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.1% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.2% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.7% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.6% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 17.7% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.6% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.2% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
For Owego, the median rent is $962 a month. Owego: 79% of households own their home.
| Owego | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $962 a month | $1,103 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 79% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Owego. Close and well known come first.
38 mi State parkTaughannock Falls State Park
29 mi Stadium & arenaSchoellkopf Field
14 mi Stadium & arenaBroome County Veterans Memorial Arena
29 mi MuseumHerbert F. Johnson Museum of Art80K visitors a year29 mi Ski areaGreek Peak Mountain Resort43 runs · 828 ft vertical29 mi AttractionSagan Planet WalkTaughannock 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 · Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena: Bmoore2009 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art: Dmadeo, CC BY-SA 3.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Owego
About 4 of every 100 Owego residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
10 places in Owego on the National Register of Historic Places.
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)
9 towns share a border with Owego.
Newark Valley next door grades lower for schools (C to Owego’s B) and higher for cost of living (B+ to C+).
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owego | #379 | B− | C+ | — | B | B+ |
| Tioga | #403 | B− | A− | — | B+ | B |
| Candor | #667 | D | B | — | C+ | C+ |
| Owego | #558 | C | C | C+ | B | C+ |
| Nichols | — | — | B | — | B | B |
| Newark Valley | #531 | C | B+ | — | C | B |
| Union | #535 | C | C+ | — | C | B |
| Vestal | #362 | B− | C− | C+ | A− | A− |
Nichols has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Owego, Tioga, Candor, Nichols, Newark Valley and Union report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Owego with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Owego grades B− overall, better than 51% of U.S. towns and #379 of 745 in New York. It grades B+ for health and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
The typical home is worth about $188,000, 64% 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.
