Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Philadelphia’s subject grades is an A for civic life; the weakest is a C− for incomes. 32% of residents are under 18 in Philadelphia, above both the New York town median (20%) and the median of U.S. towns (22%). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 72% of U.S. towns. Philadelphia has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Philadelphia beats most towns.
Where Philadelphia’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 Philadelphia is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,167 in 1830, 1,964 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 1864 and 4 maps from 1911 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Philadelphia, 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 Philadelphia.
Most working residents leave Philadelphia for work: only 17% work in town. Jobs in Philadelphia grew by 265 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 1,085. 19% of Philadelphia residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Watertown (18%), Le Ray (9%) and Watertown (5%).
| Philadelphia | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 10% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Two of its 4 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. The largest public high school is Indian River High School, with 791 students. Public schools: the Indian River Central School District.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian River Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 730 | C− |
| Indian River High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 791 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
The range runs from 9° on a January night to 80° on a July afternoon, with about 116 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
18% of adults report frequent mental distress in Philadelphia. Of 32 CDC measures, Philadelphia beats the New York average on 4 and trails it on 7. In Philadelphia, just over two in five adults sleep under 7 hours, and 29% have high blood pressure. Among 756 New York towns, just 8 have a higher share of adults who binge drink than Philadelphia.
| Philadelphia | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 17% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 34% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Philadelphia | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 9.4% | 11.5% |
| Fewer adults with high cholesterol | 31.3% | 37.7% |
| More adults with obesity | 37.3% | 28.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Of the losses FEMA expects in Philadelphia, 82% come from inland flooding and 5% from cold waves. Compared with 53% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage here is higher. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Philadelphia after 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2014.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
8.0 miles of trail. Philadelphia’s trail network density comes in at 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Philadelphia | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.3% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Philadelphia; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Philadelphia residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Town in New York, United States
Philadelphia is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 1,964 at the 2020 census. The town contains a village also called Philadelphia. Both are in the northeastern part of Jefferson County.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Philadelphia.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | — | — | B | — | C+ | B |
| Antwerp | — | — | A | — | C+ | C+ |
| Theresa | #492 | C+ | B+ | — | C+ | B |
| Le Ray | #622 | C− | C− | — | C+ | B+ |
| Wilna | — | — | B | — | B− | — |
Philadelphia and Antwerp have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Philadelphia, Antwerp, Theresa, Le Ray and Wilna report no FBI crime data of their own. Wilna isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Philadelphia with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.