Rifton is a tiny town located in the state of New York. With a population of 481 people and just one neighborhood, Rifton is the 890th largest community in New York. Much of the housing stock in Rifton was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.
Rifton is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Rifton is a town of sales and office workers, production and manufacturing workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Rifton who work in sales jobs (41.61%), teaching (18.63%), and business and financial occupations (12.42%).
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 27.33% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Overall, Rifton’s crime rate is one of the lowest in the nation, which makes a great place to live if safety is an important concern.
The town is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Rifton has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Rifton a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.
In Rifton, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 30.45 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.
Rifton is a small town, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.
In terms of college education, Rifton is somewhat better educated than the 21.84% who have a 4-year degree or higher in the typical US community: 25.42% of adults 25 and older in the town have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Rifton in 2022 was $53,957, which is upper middle income relative to New York, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $215,828 for a family of four. However, Rifton contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Rifton also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 44.34% of its population below the federal poverty line.
Rifton is a very ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Rifton home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Rifton residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Rifton include Polish, Italian, Irish, German, and English.
The most common language spoken in Rifton is English. Other important languages spoken here include German/Yiddish and Italian.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
If you are planning to retire in New York, this neighborhood should be on your must-see list. For many reasons, may be considered a retiree's dream neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and metrics, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety from crime compared to other neighborhoods in New York, while also offering a diverse range of housing options. This, along with the vibrant mix of very educated seniors and other age groups who choose to live here, makes the neighborhood more retiree-friendly than 99.6% of neighborhoods in NY. If a New York retirement is in your future, this neighborhood should be one of the places you visit. In addition to being an excellent choice for active retirees, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for first-time home buyers.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Jamaican and Polish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 6.2% of this neighborhood's residents have Jamaican ancestry and 11.4% have Polish ancestry.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Rifton are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 58.1% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 4.1% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 67.5% of America's neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 37.4% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 23.4% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (21.4%), and 17.5% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 94.3% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (2.7%).
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the neighborhood in Rifton, NY, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (12.3%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (12.1%), and residents who report Polish roots (11.4%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (9.9%), along with some English ancestry residents (7.2%), among others. In addition, 11.0% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (38.8% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (70.5%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (8.5%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.