Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. White Plains grades B overall, 324th of 745 graded towns in New York. Few places in the country are easier to get around without a car. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 88% of the country. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $802K, 8.1 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 91% of U.S. towns, with 11 places on the National Register. White Plains’ median rent is $2,269 a month, where New York’s towns sit at $1,098 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month. Its National Register listings include Percy Grainger Home and Studio and White Plains Armory.
Where White Plains beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1683, comes before those of 95% of the New York towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 2,381 in 1880, 59,559 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1868 and 5 maps from 1932 on.
11 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far White Plains is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 2%), so the B overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around White Plains. Close and well known come first.
Big draw20 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw23 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw22 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw20 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw28 mi MuseumUnited States Military Academy
Big draw22 mi TheatreStudio 54Central Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Madison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0 · United States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in White Plains, 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 White Plains.
White Plains draws workers from New York City and beyond, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New York and scores below Greenburgh and its other neighbors on health.
8.4 miles of trail in 14 parks and preserves. The trail density in White Plains is 0.9 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Bryant Mamaroneck Park, at 49 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bryant Mamaroneck Park | 0.5 mi | 49 |
| 2. Ridgeway Nature Park | 0.4 mi | 14 |
| 3. Broadway Avenue Park | 0.4 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the White Plains City School District. Two of its 16 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Plains Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,537 | C |
| White Plains Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,239 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
39,123 jobs are based in White Plains, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here fell from 49,726 in 2013 to 39,123.
Most working residents leave White Plains for work: only 14% work in town. 22% of White Plains workers work from home. Since 2013, White Plains has lost 10,603 jobs, to 39,123 in 2023.
| White Plains | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 22% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $111,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 8.1 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $802K) costs more against local pay than in 89% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living.
51% of households own their home in White Plains. Typical home values rose 6.5% in the year to September 2026.
| White Plains | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 75% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 54% | 49% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
All 4 graded neighbors score healthier than its A, from Greenburgh (A+) to Scarsdale (A+).
White Plains beats the New York average on 18 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0.
| White Plains | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 21% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.2% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | White Plains | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9% | 12.8% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 4.8% | 6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
127 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 14 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 88% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 127 flood insurance claims have been paid out in White Plains.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
White Plains has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 23° and about 33 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Reported crimes fell from 1,105 to 982 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
White Plains’ property crime rate is 14.4 per 1,000 residents.
| White Plains | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14.4 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
25 within 15 miles of the center of White Plains
About 6 of every 100 White Plains residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New York.
Where White Plains’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
11 places in White Plains on the National Register of Historic Places.
56 notable people were born in White Plains.
City in New York, United States
White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one million people. White Plains is located in south-central Westchester County. Its downtown (Mamaroneck Avenue) is 25 miles (40 km) north of Midtown Manhattan. The city's total population was 59,599 in the 2020 census, up from 53,077 at the 2010 census. According to the city government, the daytime weekday population is estimated at 250,000.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with White Plains.
All 4 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its B; Greenburgh (B+) is closest.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Plains | #324 | B | D− | C+ | B | A |
| Harrison · Harrison | #72 | A | D− | — | A | A+ |
| Scarsdale | #3 | A+ | D− | A | A+ | A+ |
| Greenburgh | #230 | B+ | D− | B− | B− | A+ |
| North Castle | #34 | A+ | D− | — | A+ | A+ |
Harrison and North Castle report no FBI crime data of their own. Harrison and Harrison are one community, graded once. Compare White Plains with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. White Plains grades B overall, better than 59% of U.S. towns and #324 of 745 in New York. It grades A for health, C+ for safety and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
56 notable people were born here, including Mark Zuckerberg and George E. Smith.
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