Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Solon’s subject grades are an A− for history and the outdoors; the weakest is a D for walkability. 15% of the land in Solon is conserved, where New York’s towns sit at 5.2% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Taylor Valley State Forest, at 1,402 acres with 5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Solon has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Solon beats most towns.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Solon is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,262 in 1820, a low of 483 in 1930, 1,079 in 2010. The archive holds 4 maps from 1903 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Solon, 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 Solon.
Solon: nearly one in ten workers work remotely from home, below both New York’s towns (12%) and U.S. towns (11%). The top destinations are Cortlandville (17%), Cortland (12%) and Tully (4%). In Solon, 7.3% of residents live below the poverty line. Half commute less than 16 miles.
| Solon | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 0.5% | 10% | 8% |
| Work from home | 8.3% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.3% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Trails run 14 miles in 3 parks and preserves. Solon’s trail network density comes in at 0.5 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Taylor Valley State Forest | 5 mi | 1,402 |
| 2. Baker School House State Forest | 3.4 mi | 840 |
| 3. Donahue Woods State Forest | 1.1 mi | 598 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in 63% of U.S. communities. Federal aid has come to Solon households in 6 declared disasters; the latest was in 2019. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 83% come from inland flooding.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
18% of Solon adults binge drink. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Solon is ahead of New York on 3 and behind on 7. In Solon, nearly two in five adults sleep under 7 hours, and 17% report frequent mental distress.
| Solon | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 37% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Solon | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.9% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 13.4% | 17.2% |
| More smokers | 15.4% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Solon
About 3 of every 100 Solon residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Solon’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in New York, United States
Solon is a town in Cortland County, New York, United States. The town had a total population of 1,079 as of the 2010 census. The name of the town comes from the Greek lawmaker Solon. The town is in the center of the county, east of the city of Cortland.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the 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+.
2 notable people were born here, including Nathan Lewis Miller and Cyrus M. Hawley.
