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Towns / New York

Skaneateles, New York

Skaneateles is a small town of about 2,500 people in Onondaga County, New York. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 5.2 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, Rochester, is about 62 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,503
down 1.6% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$647,100
Onondaga County prices up 33% since 2022
Household income
$125,625
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Syracuse area
95.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
7 miles
Auburn, NY
To Rochester
62 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 4.3% below the U.S. average in the Syracuse metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 5.2 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood2 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0.8 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 5.1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town4 public schools: 2 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byAuburn Community Hospital in Auburn, about 7 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityRochester is about 62 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 Skaneateles 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
$647,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 33%Onondaga County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,125 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$125,625U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
75%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$10,000 or more a yearNew York: $6,582
Homes built before 1940
54%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
3%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
95.7U.S. average = 100 (the Syracuse 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 33% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Syracuse metro area, not Skaneateles 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
2,5032020: 2,543
Median age
57.9 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
38%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
18%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
75%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
12%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 (20%); professional and business services (17%)
Unemployment rate
1%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
26%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
5%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Auburn Community Hospital, Auburn, NY, about 7 miles away. 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

4 public schools in Skaneateles, run by Skaneateles 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
80%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
15°F
July average high
81°F
Days 90°F or hotter
8 a year
Nights at or below freezing
142 a year
Rain and melted snow
45.6 inches a year
Snow
106 inches a year
Elevation
875 feet

Weather stations: Auburn (6 miles away) and Skaneateles (less than a mile 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: Auburn Community Hospital, Syracuse, Rochester.

Onondaga 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

8 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Skaneateles Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Harriet Tubman National Historical Park7 miles
  • Women's Rights National Historical Park21 miles
  • Fort Stanwix National Monument52 miles

Read about Skaneateles's history on Wikipedia.

Know Skaneateles?

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

  • Melrose Park, NY (unincorporated)1,960 people, 5 miles
  • Elbridge, NY950 people, 6 miles
  • Lakeland, NY (unincorporated)2,322 people, 14 miles
  • Seneca Knolls, NY (unincorporated)2,001 people, 14 miles
  • Nedrow, NY (unincorporated)2,029 people, 15 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.