Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Peekskill's standout: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 98% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades C+, 495th among New York's 745 graded towns. It is healthier than 82% of U.S. towns and it has 10 miles of trail. Its weakest subject is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $516K for a typical one and 5.2 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 97% of U.S. towns, with 13 places on the National Register. Peekskill’s typical journey to work is 37 minutes, above both the New York town median (25 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Depew Park, at 190 acres with 3.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Peekskill beats most towns.
Census counts: 6,560 in 1870, 25,431 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1779 and 6 maps from 1892 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Peekskill is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 4%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Peekskill. Close and well known come first.
Big draw8 mi MuseumUnited States Military Academy
Big draw35 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw34 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw36 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw35 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a yearUnited States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain · Central 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 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Peekskill, 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 Peekskill.
Peekskill has seen reported crime fall by a third or more, but it trails Cortlandt and its other neighbors on schools.
Trails run 9.7 miles in 10 parks and preserves. The concentration of trails for Peekskill comes to 1.8 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Depew Park | 3.8 mi | 190 |
| 2. Blue Mountain Reservation | 2 mi | 131 |
| 3. Fort Hill Park | 1.5 mi | 58 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Each of its 3 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its C−, Cortlandt highest at A−.
The largest public high school is Peekskill High School, with 1,178 students. Two of the 6 schools are below, and why each made the list. Its public schools are run by the Peekskill City School District.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peekskill Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 860 | B+ |
| Peekskill High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,178 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
29% of adults in Peekskill have high blood pressure; 28% have obesity. The town does better than the New York average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 1. The share of adults in Peekskill who have been diagnosed with depression: 15%.
| Peekskill | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 21% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 34% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Peekskill | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.2% | 12.8% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 4.8% | 6% |
| More uninsured adults | 10.7% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
For Peekskill, the risk rating from FEMA is 20 of 100. The national flood insurance program has paid 32 claims here since 1978. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 66% come from inland flooding and 8% from cold waves. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Peekskill after 7 declared disasters, most recently in 2021.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most people who work leave Peekskill to do it: just 12% work in town. The top destinations are New York (28%), Cortlandt (9%) and Yorktown (5%). Half commute less than 21 miles.
| Peekskill | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $86,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 10% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical July afternoon high in Peekskill is 86°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 38%, against 40% across New York. Children under 18 are 16% of residents (21% statewide). Peekskill: 17% of residents are 65 or older.
| Peekskill | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 16% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 32% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 20% | 18% |
| Median age | 41.8 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.1 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Peekskill | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.1% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.4% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.4% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.5% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.1% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.1% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.5% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.8% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 15.9% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.9% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.3% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.1% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.8% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 18% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Reported crimes fell from 298 to 204 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Peekskill’s property crime rate is 5.6 per 1,000 residents. In Peekskill, the violent offense rate is 2.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Peekskill | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.6 per 1,000 residents | 7.6 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The typical Peekskill home is worth about $516,000, up 4.5% in a year, close to the New York typical home. Its rent at the middle of the market comes in at $2,036 a month. Also worth knowing: among households here, 59% are owner-occupiers.
| Peekskill | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,036 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 59% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
18 within 15 miles of the center of Peekskill
About 6 of every 100 Peekskill residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New York.
15.6% of the town is conserved land, across 10 parks and preserves.
13 places in Peekskill on the National Register of Historic Places.
33 notable people were born in Peekskill.
City in New York, United States
Peekskill is a city in northwestern Westchester County, New York, United States, 35 miles (56 km) north of New York City. Established as a village in 1816, it was incorporated as a city in 1940. It lies on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across from Jones Point in Rockland County. The population was 25,431 at the 2020 U.S. census, up from 23,583 at the 2010 census. It is the third-largest municipality in northern Westchester County, after Cortlandt and Yorktown. The area was an early American industrial center, primarily for iron plow and stove products. The Binney & Smith Company, now named Crayola LLC and makers of Crayola products, is linked to the Peekskill Chemical Compa…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Peekskill.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C+; Stony Point (B) is closest.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peekskill | #495 | C+ | D− | B− | C− | A− |
| Cortlandt | #155 | A− | D | — | A− | A |
| Buchanan | #120 | A | D | — | B+ | A+ |
| Stony Point | #280 | B | D | A | C | A |
Cortlandt and Buchanan report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Peekskill with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Peekskill grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #495 of 745 in New York. It grades A− for health, B− for safety and C− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
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−.
33 notable people were born here, including Mel Gibson and Stanley Tucci.
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