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Towns / New York

Walden, New York

Walden is a small town of about 6,900 people in Orange County, New York. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.8 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 58 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
6,935
up 1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$333,500
Orange County prices up 21% since 2022
Household income
$87,487
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Kiryas Joel area
109.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
10 miles
Newburgh, NY
To Bridgeport
58 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 3.8 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: 2.6 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Valley Central High School, about 3 miles away.
  • A hospital close byMontefiore St. Luke's Cornwall in Newburgh, about 10 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBridgeport is about 58 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 Walden 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
$333,500U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 21%Orange County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,625 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$87,487U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
60%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$9,833 a yearNew York: $6,582
Homes built before 1940
36%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
2%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 Walden 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
6,9352020: 6,864
Median age
37 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
12%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
28%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
7%U.S.: 6%
College students
8%share of all residents

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 (33%); transportation, warehousing and utilities (11%); retail (10%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
35 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
9%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
11%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Montefiore St. Luke's Cornwall, Newburgh, NY, about 10 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

1 public school in Walden, run by Valley Central School District (montgomery). The nearest public high school is Valley Central High School, about 3 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
78%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
91%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
85°F
Days 90°F or hotter
10 a year
Nights at or below freezing
147 a year
Rain and melted snow
45.4 inches a year
Snow
44 inches a year
Elevation
373 feet

Weather station: Walden 1 ESE (1 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: Montefiore St. Luke's Cornwall, Danbury, Bridgeport.

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

6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail19 miles
  • Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site19 miles
  • Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site20 miles
  • Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site20 miles
  • Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River29 miles

Read about Walden's history on Wikipedia.

Know Walden?

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

  • Wallkill, NY (unincorporated)1,355 people, 4 miles
  • Pine Bush, NY (unincorporated)1,868 people, 7 miles
  • Plattekill, NY (unincorporated)1,095 people, 8 miles
  • Gardiner, NY (unincorporated)1,210 people, 9 miles
  • Salisbury Mills, NY (unincorporated)293 people, 10 miles
  • Walker Valley, NY (unincorporated)1,301 people, 11 miles
  • Clintondale, NY (unincorporated)1,784 people, 12 miles
  • Mountain Lodge Park, NY (unincorporated)1,669 people, 12 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.