Jamestown, New York
Area Profile
28,188 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Jamestown, in Chautauqua County.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 14 sourcesEmployment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.1% and the Opportunity signal places Jamestown in the bottom 8%.
In the public schools here, 52% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 10.3 students for every teacher.
Rent takes 31% of renter income here, above the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 1.5 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
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 5.1% — higher than in all but 22% of the 4,226 measured US cities.
Employment fell 0.7% over the past year, to 11,086 employed residents.
Median household income of $43,523 is lower than in 86% of measured US cities.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsChautauqua County, NY’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $53,580 | 13th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftChautauqua County, NY’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $52,883 | 11th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$4,0922024 ACS 5-Year | $43,523 | Bottom 14%of 29,223 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$1,6072024 ACS 5-Year | $26,557 | Bottom 25%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 23.5% | Bottom 17%of 31,773 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±1.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 16.3 min | Top 8%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 21.3% | Top 48%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 69.9% | 28th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentJuly 2026 | 11,086 | Bottom 4%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)July 2026 | −1.5% | Bottom 30%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)July 2026 | −0.7% | Top 47%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceJuly 2026 | 11,680 | 4th percentileof 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 71.4% | Bottom 30%of 31,513 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 2.3% | 91st percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026 | +0.4% | Bottom 24%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateJuly 2026 | 5.1% | Bottom 22%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 9.1% | 56th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Unemployment rate
Median household income, successive ACS releases
52% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 53% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 10.3 students for every full-time teacher across 12 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamestown High School | JAMESTOWN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT | 1,292 | 12.3 | 89% | 91% |
| Southwestern Elementary School | SOUTHWESTERN CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT AT JAMESTOWN | 588 | 11.3 | 51% | 45% |
| Milton J Fletcher Elementary School | JAMESTOWN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT | 509 | 10.6 | 22% | 32% |
| George Washington Middle School | JAMESTOWN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT | 455 | 8.6 | 24% | 27% |
| Thomas Jefferson Middle School | JAMESTOWN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT | 419 | 8.4 | 26% | 26% |
| Abraham Lincoln Elementary School | JAMESTOWN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT | 377 | 10.5 | 47% | 47% |
| Southwestern Senior High School | SOUTHWESTERN CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT AT JAMESTOWN | 376 | 9.6 | 98% | 92% |
| Carlyle C Ring Elementary School | JAMESTOWN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT | 373 | 9.3 | 37% | 42% |
| Persell Middle School | JAMESTOWN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT | 373 | 9.1 | 27% | 28% |
| Samuel G Love Elementary School | JAMESTOWN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT | 289 | 10.0 | 27% | 22% |
| Clinton V Bush Elementary School | JAMESTOWN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT | 283 | 10.1 | 47% | 47% |
| Southwestern Middle School | SOUTHWESTERN CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT AT JAMESTOWN | 266 | 10.6 | 48% | 48% |
68.5% 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.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of New York is up 52% over five years, and up 6.7% 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 $2,453 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.80% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $975, some 28% above the $759 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $975 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $39,000 a year, about 90% of the median household income here of $43,523.
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 $759 a month.
A median home at $87,700 costs 1.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $59,278, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
The figures above are measured against Jamestown’s median household income of $43,523, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of New York’s figure2026 Q2 | +6.7% | 96th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of New York’s figure2026 Q2 | +52.3% | 85th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of New York’s figure2026 Q2 | +101.7% | 65th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year | 1.5 | Top 14%of 26,815 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 49.3% | 9th percentileof 31,717 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±3572024 ACS 5-Year | 14,815 | 96th percentileof 32,177 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $754 | Top 4%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,287 | Top 7%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $975 | Top 7%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$392024 ACS 5-Year | $759 | Top 23%of 23,120 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$4,0892024 ACS 5-Year | $87,700 | 13th percentileof 29,111 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$1882024 ACS 5-Year | $2,453 | 64th percentileof 26,440 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$10,1402024 ACS 5-Year | $59,278 | Bottom 22%of 27,548 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.25%2024 ACS 5-Year | 2.80% | 99th percentileof 20,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 30.7% | Bottom 38%of 22,950 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±1052024 ACS 5-Year | 153 | 92nd percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.0% | 62nd percentileof 31,895 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 13.9% | 76th percentileof 31,769 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±3392024 ACS 5-Year | 2,213 | 98th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 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.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
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 27,699 in 2024.
Permitting has turned upward in 2025, after moving the other way the year before.
New construction is predominantly single-family: of 3 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.
Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Chautauqua County, which contains Jamestown, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $53,580, close to the $52,883 of households that moved out.
At 0.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Erie County, NY 585 people · 21% of arrivals
- Cattaraugus County, NY 295 people · 10% of arrivals
- Erie County, PA 216 people · 7.6% of arrivals
- Warren County, PA 130 people · 4.6% of arrivals
- Monroe County, NY 47 people · 1.7% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Erie County, NY 502 people · 17% of departures
- Erie County, PA 229 people · 7.9% of departures
- Cattaraugus County, NY 209 people · 7.2% of departures
- Warren County, PA 96 people · 3.3% of departures
- Monroe County, NY 56 people · 1.9% 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. This is the figure for Chautauqua County, NY. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.
Housing units permitted per year
Weather & climate
5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 80°F and January a low of 19°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 33.0 inches.
Air quality measures a median index of 36, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| 90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year | 51 | 2024 calendar year |
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 33.0" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 19°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 80°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year | 1 | 2024 calendar year |
| Median air quality index2024 calendar year | 36 | 2024 calendar year |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 44°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Air quality
A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
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 83% 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.
Low or minimal exposure: lightning, tornado, winter weather, hurricane, cold wave, ice storm, landslide, earthquake, wildfire, hail, coastal flooding, avalanche, drought, volcanic activity, tsunami.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.
Jamestown's police department reported 692 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,571.
Chautauqua County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.7 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 8.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at 23.2 per 100,000 residents in Chautauqua County.
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.
Offenses are reported to the FBI by Jamestown’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Jamestown (Chautauqua County) rather than Jamestown itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.
- Cost of living
- Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
- 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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. 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 Erie Intl/Tom Ridge Fld at 48 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 87.3% | Bottom 39%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 48 mi | Bottom 13%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 3 | Bottom 20%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 8.8% | Bottom 43%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erie Intl/Tom Ridge Fld | ERI | 48 mi | 8,420 ft |
| Buffalo Niagara Intl | BUF | 64 mi | 8,829 ft |
| Youngstown/Warren Rgnl | YNG | 94 mi | 9,003 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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Other cities in Jamestown-Dunkirk, NY
Same metropolitan area, measured the same way| City | County | Population | Area Score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunkirk | Chautauqua County | 12,549 | 49 | Dunkirk vs Jamestown |
Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
Put Jamestown side by side with a similar place.
Moving to Jamestown from somewhere else?
You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Safety | Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency | 2025 calendar year |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Safety | U.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 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Climate | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System Daily Air Quality Index by county | 2024 calendar year |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA 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.
ZIP codes in Jamestown
1 ZIP areaEvery ZIP area in Jamestown with census figures of its own, largest first.
| ZIP | Population | Median household income | Median home value | Area Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14701 | 38,461 | $49,685 | $105,300 | 51 |