Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, settled in 1846, counts 3,351 residents. 7.7 times the library visits per person than the typical New York town.
Shelter Island does the important things well, at a cost. The town grades B+ overall and ranks 274th of 745 in New York. Nationally, it does better than 66% of U.S. towns. Its standout strength is walkability (A): it is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. Add safety to its strengths: it reports less crime per resident than four fifths of U.S. towns. The trade-off is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.8 million, 18.6 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. On civic life, just 1 of New York’s 1,187 towns do better. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 93% of U.S. towns, with 10 places on the National Register.
Figures: FBI crime data, 2025 · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24.
Where Shelter Island beats most towns.
Census counts: 201 in 1790, 3,253 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1834 and 3 maps from 1904 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Shelter Island is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Shelter Island, 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 Shelter Island.
Shelter Island is a second-home town and is safe by national standards but not by New York’s; it also is a long drive from an emergency room.
At 18.6 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $1.84M) costs more against local pay than in 98% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living.
The typical home value in Shelter Island is about $1,845,000, up 6.9% in a year, 4 times the New York typical home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Each of its 3 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its C+, Southold highest at B+.
Its one school is below. The Shelter Island Union Free School District runs its public schools. Enrollment at the town’s public school: 183 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shelter Island SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 183 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Shelter Island’s trail density stands at 0.7 miles per square mile, against 0.4 in New York’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. In 2 parks and preserves, walkers have 21 miles of trail. Mashomack Preserve, at 1,654 acres with 15 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mashomack Preserve | 15 mi | 1,654 |
| 2. Shelter Island State Tidal Wetland | — | 38 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
72 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 10 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1978, 72 flood insurance claims have been paid out in the town. Shelter Island’s FEMA risk score stands at 4 of 100, where New York’s towns sit at 31 of 100 and U.S. towns at 44 of 100. 54% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by hurricanes at 18%. Households here have drawn federal disaster aid in 9 declared disasters, most recently in 2021.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 8.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 65% of New York’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 4 reported in 2025, 1.2 per 1,000 residents.
Its level of violent crime is 1.2 per 1,000 residents. Shelter Island’s property crime rate is 5.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Shelter Island | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.4 per 1,000 residents | 7.6 | 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 nearest emergency room, Peconic Bay Medical Center, is 20.5 miles away in a straight line. Against the 4,158 U.S. towns with household incomes like Shelter Island’s, it is less healthy than 66%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
17% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Shelter Island. This New York town does better than the New York average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 6. Among 755 New York towns, just 8 have a higher share of adults who had a checkup this year than Shelter Island.
| Shelter Island | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 32% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 21% | 23% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 85% | 81% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Shelter Island | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.4% | 14.5% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.4% | 17.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.5% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expect July afternoons of 81° and January nights of 24°, with about 27 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The top destinations are New York (21%), Southold (5%) and Southampton (4%). About one in three of Shelter Island’s working residents works in town. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs here rose by 88, to 849. The town’s typical household income stands at $134,000.
| Shelter Island | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 31% | 10% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $134,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 6% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Shelter Island. Close and well known come first.
32 mi Stadium & arenaMohegan Sun Arena
39 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
26 mi State parkGillette Castle State Park
22 mi State parkCamp Hero State Park
23 mi LighthouseMontauk Point Light
27 mi MuseumMystic SeaportMohegan Sun Arena: Bbjeter, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Yale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gillette Castle State Park: Original uploader was Kevinpepin at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Camp Hero State Park: Transpoman, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Montauk Point Light: Wolfgang Wander, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mystic Seaport: Joethon, Public domain
None within 15 miles of Shelter Island; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Shelter Island residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
2,392 counted in 2010 and 3,253 in 2020; an estimated 3,351 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
10 places in Shelter Island on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Shelter Island.
Town in New York, United States
Shelter Island is an island town in eastern Suffolk County, New York, United States, near the eastern end of Long Island. The population was 3,253 at the time of the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Shelter Island.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its B+; East Hampton (B+) is closest. Southold next door grades higher for schools (B+ to Shelter Island’s C+) and lower for cost of living (D− to C−).
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelter Island | #274 | B+ | C− | A− | C+ | A− |
| Southold | #204 | B+ | D− | B+ | B+ | A |
| East Hampton | #273 | B+ | D− | — | B+ | A |
| Shelter Island Heights | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Northwest Harbor | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Greenport West | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| East Marion | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Southampton | #249 | B+ | D− | A− | B | A |
East Hampton reports no FBI crime data of its own. Shelter Island Heights, Northwest Harbor, Greenport West and East Marion aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Shelter Island with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Shelter Island grades B+ overall, better than 66% of U.S. towns and #274 of 745 in New York. It grades A− for health, A− for safety and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $1,845,000, 251% above the New York typical home and up 6.9% in a year. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
Shelter Island was settled in 1846 and has 10 places on the National Register of Historic Places. 4 notable people were born here, including Elbert N. Carvel and Jonathan Nicoll Havens.
