Palm TreeNY
A town of 47,147, settled in 2019. Public schools that outperform most of New York.
Is Palm Tree a good place to live?
Palm Tree's standout: its public schools beat 98% of New York towns on state tests and graduation. Overall it grades B−, 360th of 745 graded towns in New York. It is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns and natural-hazard risk is low. Its weakest subject is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $759K for a typical one and 7.7 times the Kiryas Joel metro’s $98K median household income. 2.4% of residents are 65 or older in Palm Tree, where New York’s towns sit at 20% and U.S. towns at 18%. Only 1 of New York’s 1,216 towns score lower on history. Palm Tree's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 81% of U.S. towns.
What makes Palm Tree stand out
Where Palm Tree beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Kiryas Joel Village School | K–10 | 152 |
| Uta of Kiryas Joel, Kahan | PK–11 | 11,070 |
| Uta of Kiryas Joel | 1–11 | 11 |
How Palm Tree grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Palm Tree is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
United States Military Academy and 159 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Palm Tree. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi MuseumUnited States Military Academy
Big draw40 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaYankee Stadium
Big draw40 mi MuseumSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum1.1M visitors a year
Big draw40 mi MuseumAmerican Museum of Natural History5.0M visitors a yearPhoto credits
United States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain · Central Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Yankee Stadium: Matt Boulton, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: Jean-Christophe BENOIST, CC BY 3.0 · American Museum of Natural History: Gigi alt, CC BY-SA 3.0
Moving to Palm Tree: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Palm Tree, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Palm Tree.
Palm Tree has schools in the top 5% of New York and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has poverty well above the New York rate.
Palm Tree’s grade for schools is an A+
Its A+ ranks #1 of the 755 New York towns we grade for schools. Its A+ for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $759K.
Its public schools are run by the Kiryas Joel Village Union Free School District. One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kiryas Joel Village SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades K–10 | Grades K–10 | 152 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests
Palm Tree faces a very low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 81% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Palm Tree, expect four seasons and pleasant summers
Palm Tree has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 18° and about 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
More of Palm Tree’s residents live below the poverty line than in the typical New York or U.S. town
The average commute for its 11,037 working residents takes 18.9 minutes, against 32.6 across New York. Jobs based here grew from 3,996 in 2013 to 9,469.
38% of residents live below the poverty line in Palm Tree. Jobs based in Palm Tree grew to 9,469 in 2023, 5,473 more than in 2013. The median household income in Palm Tree is $50,000.
| Palm Tree | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 38% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 41% | 10% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $50,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Palm Tree stands out in New York and nationally, with more of its adults who report frequent mental distress
Against the 5,808 U.S. towns with household incomes like Palm Tree’s, it is healthier than 79%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
21% of Palm Tree adults report frequent mental distress. Palm Tree beats the New York average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 22% of Palm Tree adults say their health is fair or poor.
| Palm Tree | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 16% | 17% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 13% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 34% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | Palm Tree | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.1% | 7.7% |
| Fewer adults with high cholesterol | 31.1% | 37.7% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 14.1% | 8.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Everything we know about Palm Tree
Colleges nearby
6 within 15 miles of the center of Palm Tree
About 5 of every 100 Palm Tree residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
About Palm Tree
Town in New York, United States
Palm Tree is a town coterminous with the village of Kiryas Joel, inhabited by the Satmar Hasidic community, formerly part of the town of Monroe. The population of Palm Tree was 32,954 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 2019
- Elevation
- 699 ft
Palm Tree’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Palm Tree.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Tree | #360 | B− | D | — | A+ | C+ |
| Kiryas Joel | #458 | C+ | D | — | A+ | C− |
| Monroe | #496 | C+ | D− | — | B | C+ |
Palm Tree, Kiryas Joel and Monroe report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Palm Tree with a neighbor →
Questions about Palm Tree
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Palm Tree, NY a good place to live?
Palm Tree grades B− overall, better than 54% of U.S. towns and #360 of 745 in New York. It grades C+ for health and A+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Palm Tree, NY expensive?
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.