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Greenwood Lake, New York

Greenwood Lake is a small town of about 3,000 people in Orange County, New York. It has lost about 2% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.7 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, New York, is about 43 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,975
down 2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$340,100
Orange County prices up 21% since 2022
Household income
$72,902
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Kiryas Joel area
109.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
11 miles
Suffern, NY
To New York
43 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 9.4% above the U.S. average in the Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood6 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 1.3 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Warwick Valley High School, about 6 miles away.
  • A hospital close byGood Samaritan Hospital of Suffern in Suffern, about 11 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityNew York is about 43 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Greenwood Lake meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$340,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 21%Orange County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,385 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$72,902U.S.: $80,734
Typical property tax bill
$7,749 a yearNew York: $6,582
Homes built before 1940
32%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
5%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
109.4U.S. average = 100 (the Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 21% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh metro area, not Greenwood Lake alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
2,9752020: 3,037
Median age
42.7 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
22%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
15%U.S.: 22%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
1%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (24%); professional and business services (20%); retail (12%)
Average commute
36 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
29%U.S.: 15%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Good Samaritan Hospital of Suffern, Suffern, NY, about 11 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Greenwood Lake, run by Greenwood Lake Union Free School District. The nearest public high school is Warwick Valley High School, about 6 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on New York's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Weather

January average low
20°F
July average high
84°F
Days 90°F or hotter
14 a year
Nights at or below freezing
121 a year
Rain and melted snow
49.2 inches a year
Snow
28 inches a year
Elevation
618 feet

Weather stations: Wanaque Raymond Dam (12 miles away) and Oak Ridge Rsvr (17 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Good Samaritan Hospital of Suffern, Paterson, New York.

Orange County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail1 mile
  • Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park22 miles
  • Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area25 miles
  • Middle Delaware National Scenic River26 miles
  • Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River27 miles

Read about Greenwood Lake's history on Wikipedia.

Know Greenwood Lake?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Hewitt, NJ (unincorporated)2,417 people, 4 miles
  • Tuxedo Park, NY619 people, 4 miles
  • Hillburn, NY950 people, 9 miles
  • Vernon Valley, NJ (unincorporated)1,532 people, 10 miles
  • Ramapo College of New Jersey, NJ (unincorporated)2,018 people, 11 miles
  • Vernon Center, NJ (unincorporated)1,503 people, 11 miles
  • Newfoundland, NJ (unincorporated)1,361 people, 14 miles
  • Mountain Lodge Park, NY (unincorporated)1,669 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.