Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / New York

Hudson, New York

Hudson is a small town of about 5,700 people in Columbia County, New York. It's the county seat. It has lost about 3% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 7.2 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, Hartford, is about 66 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
5,721
down 3.4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$389,900
Columbia County prices up 27% since 2022
Household income
$54,139
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural New York
91.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Columbia Memorial Hospital
To Hartford
66 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 8.4% below the U.S. average in the parts of New York outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 7.2 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood10 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.8 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 12.1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byColumbia Memorial Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityHartford is about 66 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 Hudson 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
$389,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 27%Columbia County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,343 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$54,139U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
45%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$5,877 a yearNew York: $6,582
Homes built before 1940
53%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
4%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
3%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
91.6U.S. average = 100 (the parts of New York outside metro areas)

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 27% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of New York outside metro areas, not Hudson 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
5,7212020: 5,924
Median age
41.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
18%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
16%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
43%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
13%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 (32%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (15%); professional and business services (12%)
Unemployment rate
8%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
27 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
27%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
28%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Columbia Memorial Hospital, Hudson, NY, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 1 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

3 public schools in Hudson, run by Hudson City School District.

Colleges in or next to town: Columbia-Greene Community College (1,000 to 4,999 students).

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.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
77%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
88%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

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

Weather

January average low
18°F
July average high
85°F
Days 90°F or hotter
15 a year
Nights at or below freezing
127 a year
Rain and melted snow
44.1 inches a year
Snow
31 inches a year
Elevation
107 feet

Weather station: Hudson Correctional Facility (less than a mile away). 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: Albany, Hartford.

Columbia County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

17 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Dr. Oliver Bronson House and Estate, Dr. Oliver Bronson House and Stables, the Front Street-Parade Hill-Lower Warren Street Historic District and Houses at 37-47 North Fifth St.. One is a National Historic Landmark, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Martin Van Buren National Historic Site8 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail19 miles
  • Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site32 miles
  • Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site34 miles
  • Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site34 miles

Read about Hudson's history on Wikipedia.

Know Hudson?

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

  • Lorenz Park, NY (unincorporated)1,991 people, 1 mile
  • Stottville, NY (unincorporated)1,045 people, 3 miles
  • Claverack-Red Mills, NY (unincorporated)925 people, 4 miles
  • Sleepy Hollow Lake, NY (unincorporated)1,354 people, 4 miles
  • Jefferson Heights, NY (unincorporated)1,192 people, 5 miles
  • Leeds, NY (unincorporated)242 people, 6 miles
  • South Cairo, NY (unincorporated)619 people, 9 miles
  • Germantown, NY (unincorporated)1,042 people, 10 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.