Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,428, established in 1849.
Wawayanda grades B− overall, 432nd among New York's 745 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Residents are healthier than 78% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and natural-hazard risk is low. On the other side, the typical home is worth about $401K, 4.1 years of the Kiryas Joel metro’s $98K median household income. Wawayanda’s median household income is $143,000, above both the New York town median ($82,000) and the median of U.S. towns ($80,000). Wawayanda has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Primitive Baptist Church of Brookfield and Dunning House. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 72% of U.S. towns.
Where Wawayanda beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Wawayanda | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 14% | 17.2% |
Primitive Baptist Church of BrookfieldWhere Wawayanda’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 Wawayanda is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,085 in 1860, 7,534 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1792 and 4 maps from 1906 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Wawayanda. Close and well known come first.
Big draw27 mi MuseumUnited States Military Academy
38 mi National Historic SiteHome of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site102K visitors a year
8 mi Theme parkLegoland New York
11 mi MountainHigh Point
26 mi Stadium & arenaMichie Stadium
24 mi State parkBear Mountain State Park1.9M visitors a yearUnited States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain · Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site: Crunch, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Legoland New York: MattCC716, CC BY-SA 2.0 · High Point: Daniel Case, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Michie Stadium: John Pellino, Public domain · Bear Mountain State Park: Mwanner at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Wawayanda, 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 Wawayanda.
Wawayanda owes part of its health edge to its incomes, has household incomes well above the New York norm and has fewer 90° days than most of the country, though not than most of New York.
27 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Wawayanda’s trail density is 0.8 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Shannen Park, at 133 acres.
| Wawayanda | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.7% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hunter Farm Preserve | 0.5 mi | 59 |
| 2. Shannen Park | 0.2 mi | 133 |
| 3. New Hampton Park | — | 76 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Minisink Valley Central School District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Minisink Valley High School, with 1,116 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minisink Valley Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 806 | C |
| Minisink Valley High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,116 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 83% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 10 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Wawayanda.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 3,317 U.S. towns with household incomes like Wawayanda’s, it is less healthy than 71%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
17% of Wawayanda adults have been diagnosed with depression. Wawayanda beats the New York average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 11% of Wawayanda adults smoke cigarettes.
| Wawayanda | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 21% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 16% |
| What stands out | Wawayanda | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 14% | 17.2% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 3.1% | 3.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Wawayanda for work: only 8% work in town. The average trip to work in Wawayanda is 34 minutes. The top destinations are Wallkill (14%), New York (13%) and Goshen (9%).
| Wawayanda | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 8.2% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Port Jervis weather station, 12 miles away, records that about 14 days a year reach 90°: fewer than most of the country, but more than 76% of New York places with climate records.
Wawayanda has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 43 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The median household earns $143,017, against $85,974 across New York, one input to its B+ for jobs and income.
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the New York average. Wawayanda has grown 12% since 2020, to 8,428 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 15% of residents are 65 or older in Wawayanda.
| Wawayanda | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 20% | 18% |
| Median age | 38.1 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 32% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 20% | 22% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Wawayanda | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.7% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.7% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 12.2% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.9% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.8% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.1% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.3% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.2% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.9% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.1% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.5% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.3% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.9% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.3% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Wawayanda
About 8 of every 100 Wawayanda residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New York.
3 places in Wawayanda on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New York, United States
Wawayanda is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,534 as recorded by the 2020 census. The town of Wawayanda is in the western part of the county, south of Middletown.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Wawayanda.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wawayanda | #432 | B− | D | — | B | A− |
| Goshen | #133 | A | D | A | B | A |
| Minisink | #444 | C+ | D | — | B | A− |
| Warwick | #198 | A− | D | — | A− | A |
| Middletown | #653 | C− | D | C | C+ | C+ |
| Greenville | #548 | C | C− | — | B | B− |
| Wallkill | #412 | B− | D | B+ | C+ | B |
| Mount Hope | #242 | B+ | C− | A+ | B | B |
Wawayanda, Minisink, Warwick and Greenville report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Wawayanda with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Wawayanda grades B− overall, better than 45% of U.S. towns and #432 of 745 in New York. It grades A− for health and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $401,000, 24% 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 D.
