Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Volney grades D overall, 679th of 745 graded towns in New York, mostly because of schools. Its public schools trail 78% of New York towns on state tests and graduation. One bright spot: natural-hazard risk is low. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. Only 112 of New York’s 1,213 towns score lower on health. Volney has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them David Van Buren House and Volkert Van Buren House.
Where Volney beats most towns.
Where Volney’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 Volney is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,691 in 1820, a low of 1,691 in 1820, 5,926 in 2010. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 1867 and 4 maps from 1900 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Volney, 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 Volney.
Volney gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns, has homes that are cheap against local pay and has commutes shorter than most of New York.
Its public schools are run by the Fulton City School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volney Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 306 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 81% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The average commute for its 2,578 working residents takes 22.2 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Most working residents leave Volney for work: only 6% work in town. 15% of residents live below the poverty line in Volney, above both the New York town median (9.5%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Volney’s average trip to work is 22 minutes.
| Volney | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.7% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $75,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Volney beats the New York average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 41% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Volney, above both New York’s towns (37%) and U.S. towns (36%). 18% of adults smoke cigarettes in Volney.
| Volney | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 25% | 25% |
| What stands out | Volney | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 17.6% | 11.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.1% | 6% |
| More adults with obesity | 37.8% | 28.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
14 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. Great Bear Recreational area, at 428 acres with 11.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Volney | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.5% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Great Bear Recreational area | 11.1 mi | 428 |
| 2. Curtiss Gale Wildlife Management Area | — | 45 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Fulton weather station records that 159 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 99% of U.S. towns.
Volney has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Volney is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 2 years of the Syracuse metro’s $75K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 89% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living.
82% of Volney households own their home.
| Volney | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 82% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $952 a month | $1,103 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 Volney. Close and well known come first.
25 mi Stadium & arenaJMA Wireless Dome
20 mi LakeOnondaga Lake
10 mi LandmarkFort Ontario
25 mi Stadium & arenaOncenter War Memorial Arena
29 mi State parkGreen Lakes State Park
22 mi Stadium & arenaAlliance Bank StadiumJMA Wireless Dome: Jimhoward03, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Onondaga Lake: R. A. Nonenmacher, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fort Ontario: Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Oncenter War Memorial Arena: Crazyale, Public domain · Green Lakes State Park: Ebedgert at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Alliance Bank Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Volney
About 5 of every 100 Volney residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
4 notable people were born in Volney.
Town in New York, United States
Volney is a town in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 5,926 at the 2010 census. The town was named after a French author, Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de Volney, who toured the area in 1808. The Town of Volney is centrally located in the county.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Volney.
All 5 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; Fulton (C−) is closest.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volney | #679 | D | B | — | C− | C |
| Fulton | #636 | C− | B | C+ | C− | D |
| Granby | #559 | C | B | — | C− | C |
| Schroeppel | #572 | C | C+ | — | C | B− |
| Minetto | — | — | B+ | — | C− | B |
| Palermo | #615 | C− | B | — | C | C |
| Scriba | #351 | B | B+ | — | C | B |
Minetto has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Volney, Granby, Schroeppel, Minetto, Palermo and Scriba report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Volney with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Volney grades D overall, better than 12% of U.S. towns and #679 of 745 in New York. It grades C for health and C− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
The typical home is worth about $149,000, 72% 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 B.
4 notable people were born here, including Horace B. Willard and Joel Prentiss Bishop.
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