Chemung County, NY

County Profile

82,147 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Chemung County, NY.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

59out of 100
Area Score
Top 48% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 47% of 1,463 counties measured57
Schools1,094th of 1,377 counties measured26
Growth1,055th of 1,453 counties measured38
Housing affordability930th of 1,462 counties measured70
Climate1,113th of 1,463 counties measured60
Physical resilienceTop 9% of 1,463 counties measured88
AccessTop 11% of 1,463 counties measured97
Economic stability1,111th of 1,463 counties measured40
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.0% and median household income $63,716, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 57% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.7 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 31% of renter income here, above the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 1.7 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
82,147
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$63,716
Bottom 46% nationally
Density
202/sq mi
407.3 sq mi of land
Median age
42.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Chemung County
New York
Metro area
Nearest major airport
ELM
7 mi · Elmira/Corning Rgnl
Median home value
$141,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.0%, lower than in 53% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 1.4% over the past year, to 34,243 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$53,76335th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$66,51471st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,9112024 ACS 5-Year$63,716Bottom 46%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,5372024 ACS 5-Year$37,273Top 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$54,020Bottom 42%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year15.8%Bottom 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.5 minTop 22%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year27.2%Top 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year78.0%53rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202634,243Top 49%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.8%Bottom 29%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+1.4%Top 16%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202635,66650th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year74.3%Bottom 44%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%90th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 20260.0%Bottom 40%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.0%Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.2%47th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.22.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.0% in July 2026. It has been rising, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202464k58k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $63,716 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Elmira, NY

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons1,180$34,140
Fast Food and Counter Workers880$32,950
Cashiers860$32,790
Stockers and Order Fillers820$37,520
Home Health and Personal Care Aides750$36,900
Registered Nurses730$82,820

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

57% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 51% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.7 students for every full-time teacher across 23 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
24
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.7
across 23 of them
Math proficiency
56.5%
Bottom 16% in New York
Reading proficiency
51.3%
Bottom 16% in New York
The 12 largest of 24 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Elmira High SchoolELMIRA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT1,27322.786%89%
Horseheads Senior High SchoolHORSEHEADS CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT1,11913.396%94%
Ernie Davis AcademyELMIRA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT84412.820%19%
Horseheads Middle SchoolHORSEHEADS CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT56411.351%39%
Horseheads Intermediate SchoolHORSEHEADS CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT52913.653%50%
Gardner Road Elementary SchoolHORSEHEADS CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT44414.867%57%
Cohen Elementary SchoolELMIRA HEIGHTS CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT4439.849%37%
Finn Academy: an Elmira Charter School · charterFINN ACADEMY: AN ELMIRA CHARTER SCHOOL41113.3——
Hendy Avenue SchoolELMIRA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT39116.327%25%
Parley Coburn SchoolELMIRA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT39113.525%16%
Broadway AcademyELMIRA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT37911.117%20%
Riverside ElementaryELMIRA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT37517.9——

56.2% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against New York’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 7% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 92.7, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Elmira, NY Metro Area is up 41% over five years, and up 3.0% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $3,451 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.45% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,283, some 21% above the $1,059 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,283 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $51,300 a year, about 81% of the median household income here of $63,716.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,059 a month.

A median home at $141,100 costs 1.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $81,475, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
92.7

Prices here run about 7% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Elmira, NY Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
31.1%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,283
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,059
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$141,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Chemung County’s median household income of $63,716, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Elmira, NY Metro Area’s figure202392.7Top 39%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Elmira, NY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.0%37th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Elmira, NY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+41.2%34th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Elmira, NY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+67.8%12th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year1.7Top 12%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year68.4%24th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±682024 ACS 5-Year39,25279th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$978Bottom 48%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,606Bottom 45%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,283Bottom 37%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$362024 ACS 5-Year$1,059Bottom 26%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,7932024 ACS 5-Year$141,10026th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1102024 ACS 5-Year$3,45189th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,1432024 ACS 5-Year$81,475Top 39%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.14%2024 ACS 5-Year2.45%99th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year31.1%Bottom 20%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1012024 ACS 5-Year25041st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%16th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year9.5%53rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4212024 ACS 5-Year3,99074th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

38/ 100
Ranks 1,055 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 3 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 3% since 2020, to 81,115 in 2024.

Permit activity rose in each of the 3 calendar years through 2025.

68% of the 119 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show Chemung County lost about 0.4% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $53,763, below the $66,514 of households that moved out.

At 1.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
119
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.4
Bottom 27% nationally
Year over year
+27%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
68.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202484k81k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
45%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$53,763
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$66,514
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Steuben County, NY 463 people · 17% of arrivals
  2. Tioga County, NY 209 people · 7.8% of arrivals
  3. Bradford County, PA 141 people · 5.3% of arrivals
  4. Schuyler County, NY 134 people · 5.0% of arrivals
  5. Tompkins County, NY 113 people · 4.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Steuben County, NY 503 people · 17% of departures
  2. Tioga County, NY 182 people · 6.2% of departures
  3. Bradford County, PA 147 people · 5.0% of departures
  4. Schuyler County, NY 123 people · 4.2% of departures
  5. Monroe County, NY 80 people · 2.7% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202220232024202510675
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+41%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 16°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 32.4 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ELMIRA CORNING RGNL AP, 7.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals32.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals16°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

88 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 79% of it. Tornado and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 91% of measured US counties.

Inland floodingModerate
HurricaneModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, lightning, tornado, avalanche, earthquake, drought, strong wind, ice storm, cold wave, winter weather, wildfire, hail, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Chemung County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.5 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 9.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 17.2 per 100,000 residents in Chemung County.

Homicide
3.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
17.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
14.8
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Chemung County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Elmira/Corning Rgnl at 7 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year88.0%Top 41%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle7 miTop 5%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.2%Top 32%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Elmira/Corning RgnlELM7 mi8,001 ft
Syracuse Hancock IntlSYR74 mi9,013 ft
Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester IntlROC82 mi8,001 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
59
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Chemung County, NY