Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Stephentown gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $209K for a typical one, or 2.4 years of the Albany metro’s $88K median household income. It grades B overall, 284th of 745 graded towns in New York. On the plus side, it is healthier than 80% of U.S. towns. 11% of residents are under 18 in Stephentown, where New York’s towns sit at 20% and U.S. towns at 22%. The biggest place to walk is Taconic Ridge State Forest, 1,857 acres with 7.6 miles of trail. Stephentown's public schools trail 70% of New York towns on state tests and graduation.
Where Stephentown beats most towns.
Where Stephentown’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Stephentown is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,592 in 1820, a low of 1,093 in 1930, 2,791 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1879 and 2 maps from 1888 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Stephentown. Close and well known come first.
14 mi MountainMount Greylock
15 mi TheatreTanglewood
15 mi MuseumClark Art Institute
19 mi MuseumNorman Rockwell Museum
32 mi MuseumOlana State Historic Site
19 mi Stadium & arenaMVP ArenaMount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · Tanglewood: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Clark Art Institute: Daderot, Public domain · Norman Rockwell Museum: User:Rmrfstar, CC BY 2.5 · Olana State Historic Site: Netniks, CC BY-SA 4.0 · MVP Arena: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire port, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Stephentown, 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 Stephentown.
Stephentown has homes that are cheap against local pay and has less food insecurity than most of New York, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New York (mostly inland flooding).
41 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. The trail density in Stephentown is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Taconic Ridge State Forest | 7.6 mi | 1,857 |
| 2. Albert Family Community Forest | 3.8 mi | 300 |
| 3. Gutierrez Family Forest | 2.7 mi | 92 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its widest gap with New York is food insecurity: 10% of its 1,541 adults worry about having enough food, against 17.2% statewide.
39% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Stephentown. Stephentown beats the New York average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 30% of adults feel lonely in Stephentown.
| Stephentown | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 37% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 19% |
| What stands out | Stephentown | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10% | 17.2% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.1% | 14.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.1% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Stephentown has 225 jobs for its 1,209 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Stephentown for work: only 6% work in town. 3.7% of Stephentown residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Stephentown has added 45 jobs, to 225 in 2023.
| Stephentown | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 3.7% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.9% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $89,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Stephentown has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Stephentown’s July high is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 84% of New York towns, with expected losses of about $379 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 2.4 years of the Albany metro’s $88K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 77% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Stephentown
About 2 of every 100 Stephentown residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
5 notable people were born in Stephentown.
Town in New York, United States
Stephentown is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 2,791 at the 2020 census. The town, which was originally Jericho Hallow in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was renamed for Stephen Van Rensselaer. The town is located in the southeastern corner of the county, and has a sign proclaiming it to be the only Stephentown on Earth.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Stephentown.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephentown | #284 | B | A | — | C | A− |
| Nassau | #226 | B+ | C+ | — | A− | A |
| New Lebanon | — | — | B− | — | B− | A− |
| East Nassau | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Berlin | — | — | B+ | — | C− | B+ |
New Lebanon and Berlin have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Stephentown, Nassau, New Lebanon and Berlin report no FBI crime data of their own. East Nassau isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Stephentown with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Stephentown grades B overall, better than 64% of U.S. towns and #284 of 745 in New York. It grades A− for health and C for schools.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $209,000, 60% 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.
5 notable people were born here, including Roy Face and Zadock Pratt.
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