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Towns / New York

Rhinebeck, New York

Rhinebeck is a small town of about 2,600 people in Dutchess County, New York. It has lost about 4% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 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, Bridgeport, is about 63 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,588
down 4.2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$492,600
Dutchess County prices up 21% since 2022
Household income
$70,496
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Kiryas Joel area
109.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Northern Dutchess Hospital
To Bridgeport
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 7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood0 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 5.9 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byNorthern Dutchess Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBridgeport 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 Rhinebeck 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
$492,600U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 21%Dutchess County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,655 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$70,496U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
54%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$8,338 a yearNew York: $6,582
Homes built before 1940
24%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
8%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
3%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 Rhinebeck 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
2,5882020: 2,700
Median age
53.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
32%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
9%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
50%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
4%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 (31%); professional and business services (12%); retail (11%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Work from home
26%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
4%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Northern Dutchess Hospital, Rhinebeck, NY, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 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 Rhinebeck, run by Rhinebeck Central 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
86%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
93%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
11°F
July average high
86°F
Days 90°F or hotter
20 a year
Nights at or below freezing
185 a year
Rain and melted snow
44.1 inches a year
Snow
31 inches a year
Elevation
196 feet

Weather stations: Rhinebeck 4SE (4 miles away) and Hudson Correctional Facility (23 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: Danbury, Bridgeport.

Dutchess 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

32 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Peter, Grasmere, the Rhinebeck Village Historic District and Rhinebeck Village Historic District (Boundary Increase).

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site9 miles
  • Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site11 miles
  • Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site11 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail24 miles
  • Martin Van Buren National Historic Site32 miles

Read about Rhinebeck's history on Wikipedia.

Know Rhinebeck?

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

  • Rhinecliff, NY (unincorporated)669 people, 2 miles
  • East Kingston, NY (unincorporated)227 people, 4 miles
  • Barrytown, NY (unincorporated)135 people, 5 miles
  • Staatsburg, NY (unincorporated)358 people, 5 miles
  • Lincoln Park, NY (unincorporated)2,431 people, 5 miles
  • Lake Katrine, NY (unincorporated)2,176 people, 6 miles
  • Hillside, NY (unincorporated)911 people, 6 miles
  • Bard College, NY (unincorporated)1,130 people, 6 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.