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Towns / New York

Philmont, New York

Philmont is a small town of about 1,500 people in Columbia County, New York. It has lost about 4% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 4 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 60 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,466
down 3.6% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$225,000
Columbia County prices up 27% since 2022
Household income
$56,563
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural New York
91.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
7 miles
Hudson, NY
To Hartford
60 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 4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Philmont itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is Taconic Hillsjunior/senior High School, about 6 miles away.
  • A hospital close byColumbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson, about 7 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityHartford is about 60 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 Philmont 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
$225,000U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 27%Columbia County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,193 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$56,563U.S.: $80,734
Homes built since 2010
0%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
4%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 Philmont 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
1,4662020: 1,520
Median age
37.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
17%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
19%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
20%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
10%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

Work from home
7%U.S.: 15%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Columbia Memorial Hospital, Hudson, NY, about 7 miles away. 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

There are no public schools inside Philmont itself. The nearest public high school is Taconic Hillsjunior/senior 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.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
74%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
86%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
14°F
July average high
83°F
Days 90°F or hotter
13 a year
Nights at or below freezing
156 a year
Rain and melted snow
43.5 inches a year
Snow
50 inches a year
Elevation
501 feet

Weather station: Copake (11 miles 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: Columbia Memorial Hospital, 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

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places, including Philmont Historic District (Additional Documentation).

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Martin Van Buren National Historic Site8 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail13 miles
  • Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site34 miles
  • Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site35 miles
  • Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site36 miles

Read about Philmont's history on Wikipedia.

Know Philmont?

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

  • Claverack-Red Mills, NY (unincorporated)925 people, 4 miles
  • Ghent, NY (unincorporated)517 people, 5 miles
  • Stottville, NY (unincorporated)1,045 people, 7 miles
  • Lorenz Park, NY (unincorporated)1,991 people, 7 miles
  • Copake Lake, NY (unincorporated)784 people, 7 miles
  • Sleepy Hollow Lake, NY (unincorporated)1,354 people, 9 miles
  • Taconic Shores, NY (unincorporated)606 people, 10 miles
  • Copake, NY (unincorporated)222 people, 11 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.