Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Rome earns a D, 687th among New York's 745 graded towns, mostly because of schools and health. Its public schools trail 94% of New York towns on state tests and graduation. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 78% of the country. What it does well: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 90% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 99% of U.S. towns, with 13 places on the National Register. 32% of working residents work locally in Rome, above both the New York town median (10%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Fort Stanwix National Monument and Oriskany Battlefield.
Where Rome beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Fort Stanwix National Monument| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Louis V Denti Elementary School | K–6 | 598 |
| Bellamy Elementary School | K–6 | 544 |
| Gansevoort Elementary School | K–6 | 397 |
Fort Stanwix National Monument is one of 2 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 3,584 in 1860, a peak of 51,646 in 1960, 32,127 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1806 and 3 maps from 1895 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Rome is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rome, 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 Rome.
Rome gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and has home values climbing faster than New York’s, but it scores below Lee and its other neighbors on health.
Home values rose 45% in five years, to about $213K, against 30% across New York.
The typical Rome home is worth about $213,000, up 5.6% in a year, 59% below the New York typical home. 57% of Rome households own their home.
| Rome | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 57% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $909 a month | $1,103 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Rome City School District. Two of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyndon H Strough Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 817 | C− |
| Rome Free AcademyLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,512 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 83% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 20 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Rome.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
All 7 graded neighbors score healthier than its C−, from Lee (C+) to Whitestown (B+).
18% of adults smoke cigarettes in Rome. Rome beats the New York average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 19. 31% of adults get no exercise outside work in Rome.
| Rome | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 25% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 13% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 36% |
| What stands out | Rome | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 17.9% | 11.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.5% | 6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11.3% | 8.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
18 miles of trail in 28 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Rome Sand Plains Unique Area, 2,330 acres with 1.6 miles of trail.
| Rome | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 17% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rome Sand Plains Unique Area | 1.6 mi | 2,330 |
| 2. Bellamy Harbor Park | 0.5 mi | 11 |
| 3. Rome Wildlife Management Area | — | 1,188 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Reported crimes fell from 716 to 508 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Rome’s property crime rate is 13.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Rome | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Camden weather station, 19 miles away, records that 151 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 99% of U.S. towns.
Rome has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82° and January nights drop to 13°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 11,410 working residents takes 18 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
About one in 3 of Rome’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in Rome is 18 minutes. Since 2013, Rome has lost 1,560 jobs, to 14,096 in 2023.
| Rome | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 13% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rome. Close and well known come first.
in town National MonumentFort Stanwix National Monument78K visitors a year
35 mi Stadium & arenaJMA Wireless Dome
37 mi LakeOnondaga Lake29 mi LandmarkFort Dayton
15 mi Stadium & arenaUtica Memorial Auditorium
27 mi State parkGreen Lakes State ParkFort Stanwix National Monument: NPS photo, Public domain · JMA Wireless Dome: Jimhoward03, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Onondaga Lake: R. A. Nonenmacher, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Utica Memorial Auditorium: Doug Kerr, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Green Lakes State Park: Ebedgert at English Wikipedia, Public domain
4 within 15 miles of the center of Rome
About 3 of every 100 Rome residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
13 places in Rome on the National Register of Historic Places.
27 notable people were born in Rome.
City in New York, United States
Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which lies in the "Leatherstocking Country" made famous by James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, set in frontier days before the American Revolutionary War. Rome is in New York's 21st congressional district. The city developed at an ancient portage site of Native Americans, including the historic Iroquois nations. This portage continued to be strategically important to Europeans, who also used the main 18th and 19th-century waterways, based on the Mohawk …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Rome.
All 6 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; Lee (C−) is closest.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rome | #687 | D | B− | C | D | C− |
| Verona | #281 | B | B+ | — | B | B+ |
| Vienna | #371 | B− | A− | — | B− | B− |
| Floyd | #398 | B− | C+ | — | B | B− |
| Lee | #613 | C− | B | — | D | C+ |
| Westmoreland | #150 | A− | B− | — | A− | B |
| Western | — | — | C | — | D | B |
| Whitestown | #67 | A | B− | A+ | B+ | B+ |
Western has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Verona, Vienna, Floyd, Lee, Westmoreland and Western report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Rome with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Rome grades D overall, better than 11% of U.S. towns and #687 of 745 in New York. It grades C− for health, C for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 3.1 years of the area's median household income ($69,779 across the Utica-Rome, NY metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
27 notable people were born here, including Pat Riley and Bruce Davidson.
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