Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Even on the area’s higher pay, Wallkill costs more to live in than 90% of U.S. towns
It ranks #603 of 757 in New York for affordability.
Census 2020–24 home values, rents, tax bills and cost burden, measured against the median household income of the Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY metro area ($98K). How TownRatings grades cost of living
The grade measures what housing costs against what households in the area earn. Wallkill’s area earns well above the typical U.S. town ($98K against $74K), but homes, rent and taxes here run higher still. Owners keep up better than renters: 33% of owners pay 30% or more of income for housing (typical U.S. town: 20%), against 53% of renters.
In dollars
- $2,040a month for a two-bedroom, utilities includedHUD Fair Market Rent, 2026
- 109prices across the Kiryas Joel metro, where the U.S. is 100 (housing 116)BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
In paychecks the grade
- 3.6 yrsof area income buys the typical home; the typical U.S. town: 3.3$98K, Kiryas Joel-area income
- 22%of area income goes to the median rent; the typical U.S. town: 18%Census 2020–24
- 53%of renters pay 30%+ of income for housing; across New York: 52%Census 2020–24
- 33%of owners do; the typical U.S. town: 20%Census 2020–24
What Wallkill’s housing numbers say
A burst of building in 2021
Wallkill permitted 399 new homes in 2021, 91% of them in buildings with two or more homes, against about 105 in a typical year of the past decade. 2025 came in at 56. New homes ↓
Most new homes are apartments and condos
Of the 1,343 homes permitted in Wallkill’s past 10 years, 71% were in buildings with two or more homes, not single-family houses. New homes ↓
Written from the data on this page. There’s no Zillow index for Wallkill, so the typical value is an estimate: the Census median carried forward with the federal house price index; sales and supply are Redfin’s for September 2026; permits are Census figures through 2025; incomes, rents paid, taxes and ownership come from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Wallkill’s grade
Measured against what households in the area earn, Wallkill is more affordable than 10% of U.S. towns, #603 of 757 in New York. The share of households paying 30%+ for housing pulls the grade down most; home prices hold it up.
Home prices up 64% in 5 years
The federal house price index for the ZIP codes around Wallkill rose 64% over the past 5 years, faster than across New York (52%). Last year prices rose 9.2%. Carrying the Census median home value forward with that index puts the typical Wallkill home at roughly $433,000 today.
Carrying the Census median forward with the index puts a typical home at about $433K.
Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (annual) for the ZIP codes around Wallkill, weighted by land area. It tracks repeat sales of the same homes, so it shows how prices changed, not what homes cost.
A seller's market
Supply is tight — about 3.3 months of homes for sale at the current pace. Buyers should expect competition on well-priced homes.
Under ~4 months of supply favors sellers; over ~6 favors buyers.
Redfin Data Center, all residential sales, September 2026.
A year’s rent takes 22% of area income
The calculator starts from the area income the grade uses. Switch to Wallkill’s own median, or type yours.
That’s $97K short of a typical Wallkill home.
A two-bedroom rents for about $2,040 a month here, $900 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, Wallkill’s typical property tax (1.88% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $2,040
Renters already here pay a median of $1,790, so moving in tends to cost more than staying put.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY MSA): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
56 new homes permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 56 new homes in Wallkill in 2025: 36 single-family houses and 20 in buildings with two or more homes, worth about $10.4 million to build. That's 1.8 per 1,000 residents, about the pace of New York as a whole. Over the past 10 years, Wallkill has permitted 1,343 homes in all.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Wallkill gained 3,060 residents while 1,317 new homes were permitted: about 2.3 new residents per new home, about the same as across New York (2.2).
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 13 | 13 | 0 | $4.1 million |
| 2025 | 56 | 36 | 20 | $10.4 million |
| 2024 | 46 | 30 | 16 | $11.6 million |
| 2023 | 121 | 41 | 80 | $20.9 million |
| 2022 | 47 | 45 | 2 | $13.8 million |
| 2021 | 399 | 36 | 363 | $53.7 million |
| 2020 | 55 | 31 | 24 | $9.4 million |
| 2019 | 280 | 24 | 256 | $47.8 million |
| 2018 | 74 | 24 | 50 | $9.7 million |
| 2017 | 153 | 62 | 91 | $19.6 million |
| 2016 | 112 | 62 | 50 | $17 million |
| 2015 | 112 | 70 | 42 | $18.9 million |
| 2014 | 101 | 43 | 58 | $15.4 million |
| 2013 | 98 | 98 | 0 | $14.2 million |
| 2012 | 149 | 71 | 78 | $20.8 million |
| 2011 | 70 | 40 | 30 | $7.9 million |
| 2010 | 168 | 153 | 15 | $19.6 million |
| 2009 | 83 | 81 | 2 | $11.5 million |
| 2008 | 189 | 174 | 15 | $26.8 million |
| 2007 | 79 | 79 | 0 | $12.8 million |
| 2006 | 183 | 183 | 0 | $27.8 million |
| 2005 | 146 | 142 | 4 | $21.9 million |
| 2004 | 127 | 127 | 0 | $19.8 million |
| 2003 | 264 | 152 | 112 | $26.3 million |
| 2002 | 173 | 169 | 4 | $19.1 million |
| 2001 | 150 | 114 | 36 | $16.4 million |
| 2000 | 105 | 105 | 0 | $12.6 million |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
Property tax runs above the New York norm
The median bill is $6,623 (New York: $6,582), 1.88% of a home’s value a year, against 1.55% statewide.
Census American Community Survey 2020–24: the median real-estate tax bill homeowners report, and that bill ÷ the median home value. Bills include town, school and county taxes. The Census reports bills over $10,000 only as “$10,000+”.
The rest of a budget near Wallkill
Only figures published free for the whole country, each labeled with the area it covers: the Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY metro area, or New York. Groceries follow the goods price level; nobody publishes them town by town.
| Cost | Here | Compared with | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prices overall U.S. = 100 | 109 | NY 108 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Goods (groceries, clothing, cars…) U.S. = 100 | 110 | NY 107 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Utilities U.S. = 100 | 137 | NY 134 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Other services U.S. = 100 | 107 | NY 104 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Electricity cents per kWh, homes | 29.9¢ | U.S. 18.3¢ | state | EIA, July 2026 |
Price levels: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities 2024 (metro area and state). Electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A.
Wallkill vs. its neighbors
Zillow publishes no value for Wallkill. Hamptonburgh and Mount Hope and Washington Heights and Mechanicstown and Mamakating have no Zillow value, so they are in the table only.
Cost next door · one source per column
| Town | Cost | Typical home Zillow, latest | Median value Census 2020–24 | Tax rate bill ÷ value | 2-bed rent HUD 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wallkill | D | — | $353K | 1.88% | $2,040 |
| Mamakating | D | — | $247K | 2.35% | $1,730 |
| Middletown | D | $417K | $309K | 2.19% | $2,050 |
| Washington Heights | – | — | $367K | 1.75% | $2,050 |
| Hamptonburgh | D | — | $503K | 1.99%+ | $2,000 |
| Mechanicstown | – | — | $344K | 1.67% | $2,050 |
| Bloomingburg | – | $437K | $413K | 2.42%+ | $1,720 |
| Mount Hope | C− | — | $369K | 2.05% | $1,880 |
“—” under Zillow: Zillow publishes no value for that town, so it’s left blank rather than mixed with Census figures. “—” under Cost: not graded (too little Census data, or under 1,000 residents). “+”: the Census reports the tax bill only as $10,000 or more, so the rate is at least that.
Questions about the cost of living in Wallkill
Is Wallkill expensive to live in?
Measured against what households in the area earn, Wallkill costs more than 90% of U.S. towns: a D for cost of living, #603 of 757 in New York. The typical home costs 3.6 years of the median household income of the Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY metro area ($98K).
How much is rent in Wallkill?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $2,040 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $1,790 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Wallkill?
The median bill is $6,623 a year, 1.88% of the median home value (New York: $6,582, 1.55%), from the Census 2020–24.
Neighbors talk housing
What Wallkill buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center, September 2026. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Price trend: Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer. Regional price levels: BEA; electricity: EIA. How TownRatings grades cost of living.