Village · Delaware County, New York

Walton, New York

Walton is a village in Delaware County, New York. It has 2,423 residents. Walton, New York has a quality-of-life score of 35 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,119 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within New York it ranks #811 of 859 cities and towns. It ranks best on students per teacher (low), hot days (low) and drought exposure (low). It ranks worst on hospital quality rating (low), income inequality (Gini index) (high) and unemployment rate (high).

35Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,119 of 15,651 cities and towns
New York: #811 of 859 in NY
Population: 2,423 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,571.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 3678036

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety96#685/15,637
Economy6#14,688/15,631
Housing19#12,146/14,977
Health37#9,821/15,609
Healthcare30#11,013/15,650
Environment70#4,647/15,453
Education48#8,077/15,649
Infrastructure2#15,393/15,650
Community40#9,362/15,651
Leisure & amenities82#2,831/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Walton, New York ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Delaware County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Students per teacher · low9.8×
98/100New York 12.0×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsDelaware County value
Hot days · low1 days
98/100New York 3 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationDelaware County value
Drought exposure · low0%
98/100New York 15%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAADelaware County value
Violent crime rate · low48 /100k
98/100New York 368 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationDelaware County value
Property crime rate · low290 /100k
97/100New York 1,575 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationDelaware County value
Job growth · high3.5%
95/100New York -0.3%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataDelaware County value

Weaknesses

Hospital quality rating · low1.0
1/100New York 2.8United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesDelaware County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.538
2/100New York 0.517United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Unemployment rate · high15.7%
2/100New York 4.3%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025
Median household income · low$34,676
3/100New York $85,768United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Child care cost burden · high43.7%
3/100New York 37.7%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDelaware County value
Dentists · low20 /100k
5/100New York 84 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDelaware County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
3,258 (2015-2019) → 2,423 (2020-2024)
−26%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
46.2% (2015-2019) → 34.0% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Unemployment rateWorsening
4.2% (2015-2019) → 15.7% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
77.1% (2015-2019) → 85.0% (2020-2024)
+7.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
17.4% (2015-2019) → 25.3% (2020-2024)
+7.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.6× (2015-2019) → 3.4× (2020-2024)
+34%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Walton, New York improved on 0 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined1

Inequality+0.0960.442 → 0.538

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Walton, New York between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	15.7 min2015-2019	17.7 min2020-2024	+2.0 min	Within the margin of error	27%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.4%2015-2019	25.3%2020-2024	+7.8 points	Within the margin of error	83%
Broadband subscriptions	77.1%2015-2019	85.0%2020-2024	+7.9 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Effective property tax rate	2.36%2015-2019	1.53%2020-2024	−0.8 points	Within the margin of error	98%
High school diploma or higher	83.5%2015-2019	85.3%2020-2024	+1.7 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Home price to income ratio	2.6×2015-2019	3.4×2020-2024	+0.9×	Within the margin of error	28%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4422015-2019	0.5382020-2024	+0.096	Declined	5%
Median household income	$34,9692015-2019	$34,6762020-2024	−0.8%	Within the margin of error	7%
Poverty rate	31.6%2015-2019	30.3%2020-2024	−1.4 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	30.0%2015-2019	29.0%2020-2024	−1 points	Within the margin of error	63%
Rent-burdened households	50.0%2015-2019	47.2%2020-2024	−2.8 points	Within the margin of error	66%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Walton, New York five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Walton, New York in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Walton, New York itself moved −1.7 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,423 residents (±441)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

1,181 households (±198)

Walton, New York
New York share

Under $25k36%†429
$25k–50k27%†316
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

1,181 households (±198)

Walton, New York
New York share

Own62%734
Rent38%†447

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+14.3 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

883 workers (±204)

Walton, New York
New York share

Drive alone67%590
Carpool12%†106
Public transit0.0%0

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Delaware County, the county holding most of Walton's residents.

Delaware County has 1,114 employer establishments, 250 for every 10,000 residents (1.01× the US rate of 248; 0.91× New York's), with 12,025 paid employees at an average annual pay of $65,461. The Census Bureau also counts 3,939 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,114; 3,939 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 250; US 248 · New York 274
Paid employees: 12,025
Average annual pay: $65,461; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Delaware County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	93	20.9	1.14×About typical	850	$21,846	21
Specialty trade contractors	69	15.5	1.00×About typical	217	$69,115	383
Ambulatory health care services	49	11	0.53×Fewer than typical	297	$80,337	145
Full-service restaurants	48	10.8	1.40×More than typical	392	$22,929	10
Motion picture and video industries	48	10.8	14.2×More than typical	1,170	$28,986	42
Automotive repair and maintenance	36	8.1	1.61×More than typical	126	$48,079	48
Lessors of real estate	35	7.9	0.64×Fewer than typical	101	$38,317	427
Religious organizations	34	7.6	1.38×More than typical	99	$13,869	—
Construction of buildings	30	6.7	0.89×About typical	138	$59,152	163
Gasoline stations	30	6.7	2.08×More than typical	231	$23,416	—
Limited-service restaurants	27	6.1	0.76×Fewer than typical	405	$20,040	5
Services to buildings and dwellings	26	5.8	0.87×About typical	24	$62,458	252

Rank places for an industry Open Delaware County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 44,533 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Walton is mostly in Delaware County.

See federal money in Delaware County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Walton, New York is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Josh RileyD-NY-19 · 100% of residentsWith party 89%Missed 1.8%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Delaware County67100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Delaware County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3678036

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends