Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
West Monroe is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, 525th among New York's 745 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is cost of living: a typical home costs about $185K, 2.5 years of the Syracuse metro’s $75K median household income. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 91% of U.S. towns. 13% of the land in West Monroe is conserved, where New York’s towns sit at 5.2% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. The biggest park or preserve is Three Mile Bay Wildlife Management Area, at 2,760 acres.
Where West Monroe beats most towns.
Where West Monroe’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 West Monroe is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 918 in 1840, a low of 666 in 1930, 4,252 in 2010. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 1867 and 4 maps from 1905 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around West Monroe. Close and well known come first.
19 mi Stadium & arenaJMA Wireless Dome
16 mi LakeOnondaga Lake
32 mi National MonumentFort Stanwix National Monument78K visitors a year
19 mi State parkGreen Lakes State Park
18 mi Stadium & arenaOncenter War Memorial Arena
16 mi Stadium & arenaAlliance Bank StadiumJMA Wireless Dome: Jimhoward03, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Onondaga Lake: R. A. Nonenmacher, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fort Stanwix National Monument: NPS photo, Public domain · Green Lakes State Park: Ebedgert at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Oncenter War Memorial Arena: Crazyale, Public domain · Alliance Bank Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in West Monroe, 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 West Monroe.
West Monroe gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and sends most of its workers to Syracuse and beyond.
West Monroe has 299 jobs for its 1,824 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 25.5 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Most working residents leave West Monroe for work: only 4% work in town. Jobs based in West Monroe grew to 299 in 2023, 55 more than in 2013. 5.9% of residents live below the poverty line in West Monroe, below both the New York town median (9.5%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%).
| West Monroe | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 5.9% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 8.1% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $91,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Syracuse Hancock Intl Ap weather station, 13 miles away, records that 128 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 99% of U.S. towns.
West Monroe has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in West Monroe is 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Three Mile Bay Wildlife Management Area | — | 2,760 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 55% of U.S. communities. Since 1993, 15 flood insurance claims have been paid out in West Monroe.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
West Monroe beats the New York average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 40% of West Monroe adults sleep under 7 hours.
| West Monroe | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 25% | 25% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | West Monroe | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.9% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 13.3% | 17.2% |
| More smokers | 15.6% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
89% of households own their home in West Monroe.
| West Monroe | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 89% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,051 a month | $1,103 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of West Monroe
About 2 of every 100 West Monroe residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
3 notable people were born in West Monroe.
Town in New York, United States
West Monroe is a town in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 4,252 at the 2010 census. The Town of West Monroe is in the southeastern part of the county. The area was first settled by non Indigenous people in 1806, when four farmers bought land from George Scriba for $2 – 2.50 per acre. Thirty-three years later, the town was established on March 21, 1839, from the town of Constantia, and by 1850 had 1197 residents.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with West Monroe.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Monroe | #525 | C | B | — | C+ | B− |
| Cicero | #289 | B | C+ | B+ | C+ | A− |
| Hastings | #554 | C | B− | — | C+ | B− |
| Parish | — | — | A− | — | C− | C+ |
| Constantia | #665 | D | B | — | C+ | C+ |
| Brewerton | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Parish has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. West Monroe, Hastings, Parish and Constantia report no FBI crime data of their own. Brewerton isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare West Monroe with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
West Monroe grades C overall, better than 33% of U.S. towns and #525 of 745 in New York. It grades B− for health and C+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
The typical home is worth about $185,000, 65% 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.
3 notable people were born here, including Tom Murphy and Hadwen Carlton Fuller.
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