Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Tompkins’ subject grades are a B+ for the outdoors and a B for cost of living; the weakest is a C− for hazard risk. Tompkins’ average trip to work is 70 minutes, above both the New York town median (25 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). On hazard risk, just 68 of New York’s 1,216 towns do worse. Tompkins's schools rank behind 76% of the state's. 25% of the land in Tompkins is conserved, above both the New York town median (5.2%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Speedwell Mountain Unit, at 3,668 acres with 4 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Tompkins has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Tompkins 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 Tompkins is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,206 in 1820, a peak of 4,046 in 1870, 1,290 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1934 and 3 maps from 1924 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Tompkins, 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 Tompkins.
Tompkins’ FEMA risk score is 81 of 100. Since 1981, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Tompkins.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0.6% of Tompkins working residents work locally. The top destinations are Deposit (11%), Sidney (11%) and New York (7%). The median household income in Tompkins is $61,000.
| Tompkins | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 0.6% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $61,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Speedwell Mountain Unit | 4 mi | 3,668 |
| 2. Barbour Brook State Forest | 2.6 mi | 650 |
| 3. Fletcher Hollow Unit | 0.9 mi | 397 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Tompkins beats the New York average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 42% of adults have high blood pressure in Tompkins.
| Tompkins | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 34% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 25% | 25% |
| What stands out | Tompkins | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 10.5% | 6% |
| More smokers | 17.3% | 11.3% |
| More adults with heart disease | 9.2% | 6.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Tompkins has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 14° and about 55 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
None within 15 miles of Tompkins; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Tompkins residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Tompkins’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
2 places in Tompkins on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Delaware County, New York, US
Tompkins is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 1,290 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Daniel D. Tompkins, the fourth governor of New York and sixth vice president of the United States. The town is in the western part of the county.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
The typical home is worth about $186,000. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
