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Place dossier plate
SheetNY-WORCESTER-NY · Worcester, NY 1,017 pop · income 58th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Worcester
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Worcester on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Bloomingburg · lowest
45,083
Bloomingburg · lowest
45,083 median HH income
41.7% of the leader · rank #1
Bancroft · near
76,719
Bancroft · near
76,719 median HH income
71.0% of the leader · rank #2
Carrollwood · near
76,723
Carrollwood · near
76,723 median HH income
71.0% of the leader · rank #3
Glenpool · near
76,726
Glenpool · near
76,726 median HH income
71.0% of the leader · rank #4
Worcester · this city
76,731
Worcester · this city
76,731 median HH income
71.0% of the leader · rank #5
Glade Spring · near
76,736
Glade Spring · near
76,736 median HH income
71.0% of the leader · rank #6
Stebbins · highest
108,056
Stebbins · highest
108,056 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Worcester on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 1,017.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Worcester places in the 58th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
58th
percentile, household income
24th
percentile, home value
78th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Worcester, NY
1,017 people live in Worcester, New York - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Worcester report a median income of $76,731 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 15.0%. Home values in Worcester run a median of $140,900, and the median resident age is 35.7 years. Educational attainment runs 26.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 55.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
New York carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts New York at 107.9 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Above Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,579 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in New York run around $285, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 69.4 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Worcester's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from comparison shortlist to work and mobility to housing and income to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Worcester, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Worcester?
Within New York, the closest population matches are Theresa (1,019 residents, $57,738 income); Norfolk (1,021 residents, $52,411 income); Bloomingburg (1,022 residents, $45,083 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Stebbins, CA (1,017 residents); Utica, IN (1,017 residents); Country Club Hills, MO (1,017 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
What does the journey to work look like in Worcester?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 74.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
How far does income reach against housing in Worcester?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 15.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
What does the education layer cover for Worcester?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 26.4% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Above median income · poverty 15.0% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
107.9 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, New York average
F
City profile score · Worcester, NY
36/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Household income C
$76,731
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share C-
26.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
15.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living F
107.9 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Worcester profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 56/100 (C) · $76,731
Bachelor's+ share: 52/100 (C-) · 26.4%
Poverty rate: 23/100 (F) · 15.0%
Cost of living: 12/100 (F) · 107.9 index
How does Worcester compare to other US cities?
Here's how Worcester stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income58% higher than other cities
Home value24% pricier than other cities
Median rent78% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Worcester against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to New York only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
New York-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Worcester near the bottom of New York's cities
Among the 1,256 New York cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Worcester ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Worcester only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#676 of 1,205
44th percentile in New York
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,256
0th percentile in New York
Median Home Value
#910 of 1,202
24th percentile in New York
Poverty Rate
#179 of 1,246
86th percentile in New York
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#795 of 1,254
36th percentile in New York
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within New York only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
58th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Worcester's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$140,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 76% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Worcester's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#1,107 of 15,516
More affordable than 93% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,071 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.8×, Worcester sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,107 of 15,516 and #1,071 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$76,731Worcester, NY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Worcester, NY median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Worcester, NY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)26.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)15.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)55.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,017
Median Income
$76,731
Median Home Value
$140,900
Median Age
35.7
Poverty Rate
15.0%
Labor force participation
55.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
26.4%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
74.4%
Carpool
10.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
5.6%
Work from Home
9.8%
Based on 430 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
New York statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $285
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across New York at $285 (electricity about $130 , water and sewer about $65 ).
These are New York statewide averages, not a meter reading for Worcester. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
New York's BEA cost-of-living index is 107.9 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Worcester is $1,579/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to New York statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 69.4 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a New York statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Worcester sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Worcester compares to similar-size New York cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.