Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The typical home is worth about $638K, 6.4 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Overall it grades C−, 649th among New York's 745 graded towns. It has 84 miles of trail and natural-hazard risk is low. Its weakest subject is schools: its schools rank behind 85% of the state's. Riverhead’s median rent is $1,974 a month, where New York’s towns sit at $1,098 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month. Riverhead has 14 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Wading River Radio Station and US Post Office-Riverhead. Riverhead is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns.
Where Riverhead beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,498 in 1800, 35,902 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1834 and 3 maps from 1903 on.
14 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Riverhead is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Riverhead, 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 Riverhead.
Riverhead trades workers with New York City and other neighbors and has fewer 90° days than most of the country, though not than most of New York; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New York.
632 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 63 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 91% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 632 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Riverhead.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Riverhead Central School District. Three of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pulaski Street Elementary SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–6 | Grades 5–6 | 797 | D |
| Riverhead Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,927 | A− |
| Wading River SchoolTop results in townGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 438 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
The biggest place to walk is Robert Cushman Murphy County Park, 1,698 acres with 4.7 miles of trail.
| Riverhead | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5.7% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Calverton Pine Barrens State Forest | 10.5 mi | 185 |
| 2. Wildwood State Park | 9.3 mi | 768 |
| 3. Otis Pike Preserve - West | 7.8 mi | 823 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 6.4 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $638K) costs more against local pay than in 83% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living.
Typical home values rose 4.7% in the year to September 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Riverhead’s property crime rate is 18.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Riverhead | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 18.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Bridgehampton weather station, 22 miles away, records that about 5 days a year reach 90°: fewer than most of the country, but more than 75% of New York places with climate records.
Riverhead has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 23° and about 27 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Riverhead beats the New York average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 17% of Riverhead adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Riverhead | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 21% | 23% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 37% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| What stands out | Riverhead | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer lonely adults | 30% | 34.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.6% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Riverhead has about as many jobs (16,256) as working residents, but only 3,311 people both live and work here.
About one in 5 of Riverhead’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in Riverhead is 28 minutes. The top destinations are New York (15%), Brookhaven (15%) and Southampton (11%).
| Riverhead | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 10% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $94,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 10% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Riverhead. Close and well known come first.
in town LandmarkCalverton National Cemetery
27 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
34 mi State parkGillette Castle State Park
in town Theme parkSplish Splash
26 mi MuseumYale University Art Gallery
10 mi Park & preserveLong Island Central Pine BarrensCalverton National Cemetery: United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Public domain · Yale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gillette Castle State Park: Original uploader was Kevinpepin at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Splish Splash: Railroadwiki, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Yale University Art Gallery: Ragesoss, Public domain · Long Island Central Pine Barrens: Americasroof, CC BY-SA 3.0
None within 15 miles of Riverhead; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Riverhead residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
5.7% of the town is conserved land, across 32 parks and preserves.
14 places in Riverhead on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Riverhead.
Town in New York, United States
Riverhead is a town in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the north shore of Long Island. Since 1727, the hamlet of the same name within the town has been the county seat of Suffolk County, though most county offices are in Hauppauge. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35,902. The town rests on the mouth of the Peconic River, from which it derives its name. The smaller hamlet of Riverhead lies within it, and is the town's principal economic center. The town is 166 miles (267 km) southwest of Boston via the Orient Point-New London Ferry, and is 76 miles (123 km) northeast of New York City. In the beginning of the 20th century, the town saw an influx of Polish immigrants. This…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Riverhead.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverhead | #649 | C− | D− | C | C− | B |
| Brookhaven | #295 | B | D− | — | B | A− |
| Calverton | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Manorville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wading River | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| East Shoreham | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Southampton | #249 | B+ | D− | A− | B | A |
| Riverside | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Brookhaven reports no FBI crime data of its own. Calverton, Manorville, Wading River, East Shoreham and Riverside aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Riverhead with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Riverhead grades C− overall, better than 16% of U.S. towns and #649 of 745 in New York. It grades B for health, C 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−.
10 notable people were born here, including Otis G. Pike and Michael Forbes.
