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Towns / New York

Port Jervis, New York

Port Jervis is a small town of about 8,500 people in Orange County, New York. It has lost about 2% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.9 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 63 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
8,518
down 2.5% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$236,700
Orange County prices up 21% since 2022
Household income
$47,917
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Kiryas Joel area
109.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Bon Secours Community Hospital
To New York
63 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 4.9 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood25 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2.9 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 13.5 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byBon Secours Community Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityNew York is about 63 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 Port Jervis 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
$236,700U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 21%Orange County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,260 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$47,917U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
51%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$5,339 a yearNew York: $6,582
Homes built before 1940
58%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
0%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%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 Port Jervis 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
8,5182020: 8,732
Median age
40.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
20%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
19%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
16%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
5%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%); manufacturing (15%); retail (13%)
Unemployment rate
7%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
25 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
9%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
22%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Bon Secours Community Hospital, Port Jervis, NY, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 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 Port Jervis, run by Port Jervis City School District.

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
67%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
83%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
16°F
July average high
82°F
Days 90°F or hotter
8 a year
Nights at or below freezing
151 a year
Rain and melted snow
47.3 inches a year
Snow
41 inches a year
Elevation
471 feet

Weather station: Matamoras (2 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: 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

3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River3 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail4 miles
  • Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area4 miles
  • Middle Delaware National Scenic River4 miles
  • Morristown National Historical Park41 miles

Read about Port Jervis's history on Wikipedia.

Know Port Jervis?

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

  • Sparrow Bush, NY (unincorporated)1,119 people, 2 miles
  • Unionville, NY628 people, 9 miles
  • Otisville, NY988 people, 10 miles
  • Layton, NJ (unincorporated)967 people, 13 miles
  • Barryville, NY (unincorporated)461 people, 14 miles
  • Eldred, NY (unincorporated)136 people, 14 miles
  • Vernon Valley, NJ (unincorporated)1,532 people, 14 miles
  • Birchwood Lakes, PA (unincorporated)1,399 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.