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. Rifton has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic towns.
Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Rifton is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-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 (45.99%), teaching (12.83%), and business and financial occupations (11.23%).
Also of interest is that Rifton has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 31.02% 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.
The overall crime rate in Rifton is one of the lowest in the US. This makes it one of the safer places to live in the country in terms of crime.
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.
One downside of living in Rifton, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 35.58 minutes every day commuting to work. However, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead.
Rifton, even though it is a small town, has many people who use public transportation every day to get to and from work. This is a great benefit for people in the, town who have a need for low-cost transportation.
The education level of Rifton citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 32.86% of adults in Rifton have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Rifton in 2018 was $63,778, which is wealthy relative to New York and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $255,112 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 42.42% of its population below the federal poverty line.
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, German, Irish, and English.
The most common language spoken in Rifton is English. Other important languages spoken here include German/Yiddish and Italian.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
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 99.2% of neighborhoods in NY. If a New York retirement is in your future, this neighborhood should be one of the places you visit.
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, 7.0% of this neighborhood's residents have Jamaican ancestry and 13.1% 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 59.8% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.6% 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 79.8% of America's neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 33.9% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 24.4% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (21.7%), and 19.8% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 95.8% of households.
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Rifton, NY, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (15.7%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (15.3%), and residents who report Polish roots (13.1%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (11.3%), along with some Jamaican ancestry residents (7.0%), among others. In addition, 11.7% 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 (42.1% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (69.1%) 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 (7.1%) and 5.9% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.