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Towns / New York

West Carthage, New York

West Carthage is a small town of about 1,700 people in Jefferson County, New York. It has lost about 3% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.9 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, Rochester, is about 114 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,721
down 2.6% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$192,100
Jefferson County prices up 14% since 2022
Household income
$49,885
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Watertown area
87.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
2 miles
Carthage, NY
To Rochester
114 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 12.3% below the U.S. average in the Watertown-Fort Drum metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.9 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: 0.6 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Carthage Senior High School, about 2 miles away.
  • A hospital close byCarthage Area Hospital, INC in Carthage, about 2 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityRochester is about 114 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 West Carthage 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
$192,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 14%Jefferson County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$985 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$49,885U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
42%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,583 a yearNew York: $6,582
Homes built before 1940
39%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
2%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
87.7U.S. average = 100 (the Watertown-Fort Drum 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 14% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Watertown-Fort Drum metro area, not West Carthage 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
1,7212020: 1,767
Median age
36.2 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
22%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
21%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 (25%); construction (15%); government (13%)
Unemployment rate
0%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
10%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
10%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Carthage Area Hospital, INC, Carthage, NY, about 2 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Samaritan Medical Center, Watertown, NY, about 15 miles away. 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 West Carthage, run by Carthage Central School District. The nearest public high school is Carthage Senior High School, about 2 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
79%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
87%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
8°F
July average high
78°F
Days 90°F or hotter
2 a year
Nights at or below freezing
165 a year
Rain and melted snow
41.8 inches a year
Snow
127 inches a year
Elevation
785 feet

Weather station: Lowville (14 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: Carthage Area Hospital, Utica, Rochester.

Jefferson County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Fort Stanwix National Monument53 miles

Read about West Carthage's history on Wikipedia.

Know West Carthage?

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

  • Great Bend, NY (unincorporated)938 people, 5 miles
  • Deferiet, NY247 people, 5 miles
  • Copenhagen, NY659 people, 6 miles
  • Felts Mills, NY (unincorporated)402 people, 8 miles
  • Castorland, NY341 people, 8 miles
  • Evans Mills, NY604 people, 12 miles
  • Croghan, NY632 people, 13 miles
  • Pamelia Center, NY (unincorporated)907 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.