Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,728, settled in 1790. 84% more nonprofits per person than the typical New York town.
Trash & recyclingUlysses grades B− overall, ranked 423rd of 745 in New York, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 89% of the country and natural-hazard risk is low. On the other side, homes are expensive, about $274K for a typical one and 3.7 times the Ithaca metro’s $74K median household income. On civic life, just 25 of New York’s 1,187 towns do better. 52% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Ulysses, where New York’s towns sit at 32% and U.S. towns at 29%. Ulysses has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Hermon Camp House and First Presbyterian Church of Ulysses.
Where Ulysses beats most towns.
Census counts: 6,345 in 1820, a low of 2,105 in 1920, 4,940 in 2020. The archive holds 10 old photos and papers going back to 1862 and 3 maps from 1902 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Ulysses is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ulysses, 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 Ulysses.
Ulysses has less no health insurance than most of New York and has commutes shorter than most of New York.
Its widest gap with New York is no health insurance: 4.5% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 7.9% statewide.
For adults 18 to 64 in Ulysses, the share who have no health insurance is 4.5%. Against the New York average, Ulysses comes out ahead on 13 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 3. 20% of adults in Ulysses get no exercise outside work; 11% smoke cigarettes.
| Ulysses | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 33% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 25% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Ulysses | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.5% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.2% | 17.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.9% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Trumansburg Central School District. Below: Two of its 4 schools, each with why it was picked. Public school enrollment in Ulysses: 957 students across 3 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trumansburg Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 409 | B− |
| Charles O Dickerson High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 271 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Households in Ulysses have drawn federal disaster aid once, in 2017. On expected storm and flood damage, Ulysses sits below 90% of U.S. communities. 70% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by tornadoes at 8%. The national flood insurance program has paid one claim here since 2006.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Trails total 14 miles in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Taughannock Falls State Park, 756 acres with 6.7 miles of trail.
| Ulysses | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 4.9% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Taughannock Falls State Park | 6.7 mi | 756 |
| 2. Jacksonville Community Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The average commute for its 1,958 working residents takes 25.9 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Ulysses dropped by 106, to 1,176. Most working residents leave Ulysses for work: only 12% work in town. The share of workers in Ulysses who work remotely from home: 15%. The top destinations are Ithaca (22%), Ithaca (22%) and Lansing (4%).
| Ulysses | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 15% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.6% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $71,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Just over two thirds of Ulysses households own their home. For Ulysses, the going rate for rent is $1,274 a month.
| Ulysses | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 68% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,274 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Ulysses. Close and well known come first.
in town State parkTaughannock Falls State Park
17 mi LakeSeneca Lake
13 mi LakeCayuga Lake
16 mi State parkWatkins Glen State Park
9 mi Stadium & arenaSchoellkopf Field
8 mi MuseumHerbert F. Johnson Museum of Art80K visitors a yearTaughannock Falls State Park: Michael C. Rygel, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Seneca Lake: RochesterNY, Public domain · Cayuga Lake: The original uploader was Cornellrockey at English Wikipedia. Later versions we, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Watkins Glen State Park: Flickr user: Peter Rivera Stamford, Connecticut https://www.flickr.com/people/ri, CC BY 2.0 · Schoellkopf Field: Alex Sergeev, (www.asergeev.com) Originally uploaded by en:User:Cornell010, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art: Dmadeo, CC BY-SA 3.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Ulysses
About 9 of every 100 Ulysses residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Ulysses’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 places in Ulysses on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New York, United States
Ulysses is a town located in northwest Tompkins County, New York, U.S. The population was 4,940 at the 2020 census. The town was named after the hero of the Odyssey. The Town of Ulysses is northwest of the city of Ithaca and is in the northwest part of Tompkins County. Taughannock Falls, the highest waterfall in the state, is in Ulysses in Taughannock Falls State Park. The falls drop 215 feet (66 m), farther than Niagara Falls, making Taughannock Falls one of the highest waterfalls east of the Rocky Mountains.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Ulysses.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulysses | #423 | B− | C− | — | B | A |
| Lansing | #378 | B− | D− | — | A− | A− |
| Enfield | #296 | B | C | — | B | A |
| Covert | — | — | C | — | C+ | B+ |
| Hector | #594 | C− | C | — | B− | B+ |
| Ithaca | #314 | B | D− | — | B | A |
Covert has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Ulysses, Lansing, Enfield, Covert, Hector and Ithaca report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Ulysses with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Ulysses grades B− overall, better than 46% of U.S. towns and #423 of 745 in New York. It grades A for health and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $275,000, 48% 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 C−.
