ThurstonNY
A town of 1,228, settled in 1813.
Is Thurston a good place to live?
Thurston’s best subject grade is a B for history; its weakest is a D for walkability. On walkability, just 55 of New York’s 1,216 towns do worse. On the outdoors, just 12 of New York’s 1,216 towns do worse. Thurston's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 90% of U.S. towns. Thurston has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
1,228 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Thurston grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Thurston is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Thurston: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Thurston, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Thurston.
Fewer of Thurston’s working residents work locally than in the typical New York or U.S. town
1.3% of working residents work locally in Thurston, where New York’s towns sit at 10% and U.S. towns at 8%. Since 2013, Thurston has lost 31 jobs, to 40 in 2023. 3.4% of Thurston residents live below the poverty line.
| Thurston | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 3.4% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.3% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $73,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Residents of Thurston are less healthy than 67% of U.S. towns
Thurston beats the New York average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 17% of adults smoke cigarettes in Thurston, above both New York’s towns (13%) and U.S. towns (14%). 16% of adults report frequent physical distress in Thurston.
| Thurston | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 25% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 37% | 36% |
| What stands out | Thurston | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.5% | 6% |
| More smokers | 17.2% | 11.3% |
| More adults with arthritis | 32.5% | 24% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In Thurston, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
Thurston has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Thurston’s July high is 80°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Moderate risk in Thurston, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 55% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Conserved land covers 0.1% of Thurston
4.6 miles of trail in 0 parks and preserves. Only 5 of the 741 New York towns we compare have a lower share of conserved land than Thurston.
| Thurston | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.1% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Seneca Lake and 11 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Thurston. Close and well known come first.
36 mi LakeSeneca Lake
13 mi MuseumCorning Museum of Glass400K visitors a year
23 mi State parkWatkins Glen State Park
13 mi MuseumRockwell Museum36 mi Ski areaBristol Mountain Ski Resort39 runs · 1,138 ft vertical
12 mi MuseumGlenn H. Curtiss MuseumPhoto credits
Seneca Lake: RochesterNY, Public domain · Corning Museum of Glass: User:Stilfehler, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Watkins Glen State Park: Flickr user: Peter Rivera Stamford, Connecticut https://www.flickr.com/people/ri, CC BY 2.0 · Rockwell Museum: W.rose.v, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Glenn H. Curtiss Museum: Ruhrfisch (talk), CC BY-SA 4.0
Everything we know about Thurston
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Thurston
About 3 of every 100 Thurston residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
99% of working residents leave Thurston for work
Where Thurston’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Thurston
Town in New York, United States
Thurston is a town in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 1,248 at the 2020 United States census. The town is named after early landowner William Thurston. The Town of Thurston is the east-central part of the county, northwest of Corning.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1813
- Area
- 37 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,634 ft
- Area code
- 607
Questions about Thurston
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Thurston, NY expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.