PolandNY
A town settled in 1804, now home to 2,176 people.
Is Poland a good place to live?
Poland’s best subject grades are an A− for cost of living and a B for history; its weakest is a D for hazard risk. Only 38 of New York’s 1,216 towns score lower on hazard risk. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 73% of U.S. towns. Only 39 of New York’s 1,216 towns score lower on the outdoors. The biggest park or preserve is Clay Pond Wildlife Management Area, at 178 acres. Poland has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
95% of working residents leave Poland for work
Where Poland’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Poland grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Poland is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Poland: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Poland, 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 Poland.
Natural hazards: high risk in Poland, mostly inland flooding
Federal aid has come to Poland households in 5 declared disasters; the latest was in 2014. FEMA expects more storm and flood damage in the town than in 79% of U.S. communities. Paid flood insurance claims locally since 1979: 6.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Poland’s public schools trail 67% of New York districts
The Falconer Central School District runs its public schools. Its one school is below. 232 students attend Poland’s public school.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paul B D Temple Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 232 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Poland has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Half the trips to work are shorter than 9 miles. Jobs based in Poland grew to 295 in 2023, 38 more than in 2013. Only 5% of working residents stay in Poland for work; the rest commute out. The town’s average commute comes in at 21 minutes.
| Poland | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.9% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $70,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Snowy winters and pleasant summers: that is Poland’s year
Poland’s midsummer high is 81°F, near the New York town median (81°F) and below the median of U.S. towns (85°F).
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Poland is less healthy than 55% of U.S. towns
Poland: 15% of adults report frequent physical distress. CDC measures, 32 in all: Poland beats New York on 2 and trails on 11. Among adults locally, 39% sleep under 7 hours, against 37% in New York’s towns and 36% across U.S. towns.
| Poland | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 37% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 34% | 35% |
| What stands out | Poland | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.2% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 12% | 14.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.9% | 6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1.3% of the land in Poland is protected from building
Trails total 1.8 miles in 3 parks and preserves. The concentration of trails in Poland is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Poland | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.3% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Clay Pond Wildlife Management Area | — | 178 |
| 2. Hartson Swamp Wildlife Management Area | — | 97 |
| 3. Kennedy Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Compared with most of New York and the rest of the country, the median rent in Poland is lower
The share of households in Poland who live in a home they own: 81%.
| Poland | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $696 a month | $1,101 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 81% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Chautauqua Lake and 10 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Poland. Close and well known come first.
14 mi LakeChautauqua Lake
21 mi DamKinzua Dam
33 mi National forestAllegheny National Forest
38 mi State parkKinzua Bridge State Park
21 mi State parkAllegany State Park
7 mi MuseumLucille Ball-Desi Arnaz CenterPhoto credits
Chautauqua Lake: Banderas, Public domain · Kinzua Dam: Niagara, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Allegheny National Forest: IvoShandor, CC BY 2.5 · Kinzua Bridge State Park: Nicholas from Pennsylvania, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Allegany State Park: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0
Everything we know about Poland
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Poland
About 3 of every 100 Poland residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
About Poland
Town in New York, United States
Poland is an incorporated town in Chautauqua County, New York. The population was 2,201 at the time of the 2020 census. The town is on the county's eastern border.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1804
- Area
- 37 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,275 ft
Poland’s neighbors
6 towns share a border with Poland.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | — | — | A− | — | C | C+ |
| Randolph | — | — | A | — | B | C+ |
| Ellicott | #634 | C− | B− | C− | B− | C |
| Carroll | #143 | A− | A− | A+ | B | C+ |
| Ellington | — | — | A− | — | C | C+ |
| Gerry | — | — | B | — | C+ | B− |
| Conewango | — | — | B+ | — | B | C |
Poland, Randolph, Ellington, Gerry and Conewango have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Poland, Randolph, Ellington, Gerry and Conewango report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Poland with a neighbor →
Questions about Poland
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Poland, NY expensive?
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $107,000, 80% 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 A−.