Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Wheeler’s subject grades are a B for cost of living and the outdoors; the weakest is a D for incomes. 35% of residents live below the poverty line in Wheeler, against 9.5% in New York’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. On incomes, just 26 of New York’s 1,216 towns do worse. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 84% of U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Pigtail Hollow State Forest, 850 acres with 2.2 miles of trail. Wheeler has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Wheeler beats most towns.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Wheeler is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 798 in 1820, 1,136 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 1873 and 2 maps from 1910 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Wheeler, 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 Wheeler.
1% of working residents work locally in Wheeler, below both the New York town median (10%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Jobs based in Wheeler fell to 35 in 2023, 86 fewer than in 2013. The average trip to work in Wheeler is 32 minutes.
| Wheeler | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Wheeler beats the New York average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 16% of Wheeler adults report frequent physical distress.
| Wheeler | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 25% | 25% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 34% | 35% |
| What stands out | Wheeler | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.8% | 6% |
| More smokers | 17% | 11.3% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.5% | 6.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 69% of U.S. communities. Since 1996, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Wheeler.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Wheeler has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Wheeler’s July high is 79°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Wheeler | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5.4% | 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. Pigtail Hollow State Forest | 2.2 mi | 850 |
| 2. Urbana State Forest | 1 mi | 733 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Wheeler. Close and well known come first.
27 mi LakeSeneca Lake
37 mi LakeCayuga Lake
24 mi State parkWatkins Glen State Park
36 mi State parkLetchworth State Park
25 mi MuseumCorning Museum of Glass400K visitors a year
39 mi MountainCumorahSeneca 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 · Letchworth State Park: Suandsoe, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Corning Museum of Glass: User:Stilfehler, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cumorah: Hillcumorahpageantstage.jpg: la salebete derivative work: Eustress (talk), CC BY-SA 2.0
None within 15 miles of Wheeler; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Wheeler residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Wheeler’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in New York, United States
Wheeler is a town in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 1,136 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Captain Silas Wheeler, an early settler. The Town of Wheeler is in the northern part of the county, north of Bath.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
