Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Penn Yan gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $344K for a typical one, or 4.9 years of the county’s $70K median household income. It grades B overall, 291st of 745 graded towns in New York. On the plus side, it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 82% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 98% of U.S. towns. 31% of working residents work locally in Penn Yan, above both New York’s towns (10%) and U.S. towns (8%). On history, just 85 of New York’s 1,216 towns do better.
Where Penn Yan beats most towns.
Where Penn Yan’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 Penn Yan is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,388 in 1860, 5,056 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1856 and 2 maps from 1903 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Penn Yan, 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 Penn Yan.
Penn Yan draws workers from Milo and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has property taxes about half the New York norm.
2,974 jobs are based in Penn Yan, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 14.4 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
About one in 3 of Penn Yan’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in Penn Yan is 14 minutes. The top destinations are Milo (28%), Benton (8%) and Jerusalem (5%).
| Penn Yan | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The median property tax bill is $3,146, against $6,582 across New York, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Penn Yan’s median rent is $663 a month. Typical home values rose 5% in the year to September 2026. 62% of households own their home in Penn Yan.
| Penn Yan | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $663 a month | $1,103 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 62% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Penn Yan has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 17° and about 57 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Penn Yan's reported crime rate is below New York's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 9 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
| Penn Yan | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14.4 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.8 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
| Penn Yan | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.7% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Red Jacket Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 8,966 U.S. towns with household incomes like Penn Yan’s, it is healthier than 73%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Penn Yan beats the New York average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. 15% of Penn Yan adults report frequent physical distress.
| Penn Yan | 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% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 19% |
| What stands out | Penn Yan | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 11.8% | 14.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.2% | 6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 15 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Penn Yan.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Penn Yan. Close and well known come first.
8 mi LakeSeneca Lake
18 mi LakeCayuga Lake
22 mi State parkWatkins Glen State Park
25 mi MountainCumorah
24 mi State parkTaughannock Falls State Park
35 mi MuseumCorning Museum of Glass400K visitors a yearSeneca Lake: RochesterNY, Public domain · Cayuga Lake: The original uploader was Cornellrockey at English Wikipedia. Later versions we, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Watkins Glen State Park: Flickr user: Peter Rivera Stamford, Connecticut https://www.flickr.com/people/ri, CC BY 2.0 · Cumorah: Hillcumorahpageantstage.jpg: la salebete derivative work: Eustress (talk), CC BY-SA 2.0 · Taughannock Falls State Park: Michael C. Rygel, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Corning Museum of Glass: User:Stilfehler, CC BY-SA 3.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Penn Yan
About 1 of every 100 Penn Yan residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
14 notable people were born in Penn Yan.
Village in New York, United States
Penn Yan is an incorporated village in and the county seat of Yates County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, Penn Yan had a population of 5,056. It lies at the north end of the east branch of Keuka Lake, one of the Finger Lakes. As tourism has grown in the Finger Lakes, Penn Yan has become a summertime hub for visitors to local vineyards, breweries, and Mennonite craft markets. Since the 1970s, farmland in Yates County has been increasingly purchased by Mennonite families from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Today, Penn Yan is the center of the largest Old Order Mennonite community in New York State, and horse-drawn buggies are a common sight in the village. The village is ho…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Penn Yan.
It grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Milo (B) comes closest.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Yan | #291 | B | A− | — | B− | B− |
| Milo | #323 | B | B+ | — | B− | B− |
| Jerusalem | #507 | C+ | C | — | B− | B+ |
| Benton | #565 | C | C | — | B− | B− |
Penn Yan, Milo, Jerusalem and Benton report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Penn Yan with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Penn Yan grades B overall, better than 63% of U.S. towns and #291 of 745 in New York. It grades B− for health and B− for schools.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
14 notable people were born here, including David Bordwell and John Roche.
