Freedom, New York.
. Olean, NY metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,478 (+116%) since Jan 2020.
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- New York$2,755
- United States$1,922
Living in Freedom, Cattaraugus County, New York
Freedom is a town of 2,261 people in Cattaraugus County. 89% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 11% are rented. Unemployment in Cattaraugus County was 4.4% in August 2026, and the county had 1.6% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then manufacturing.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 24 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Freedom is a small rural town in Cattaraugus County, and nearly all of its homes are lived in by their owners. Winters are cold and very snowy, with January the coldest month, while summers are mild and July is the warmest. Rain and melted snow add up to a fair amount through the year, so the seasons are clearly marked.
Work. Residents work mostly in schools, hospitals and social care, with others in manufacturing, professional and business services, and the building trades. Across Cattaraugus County, some of the largest workplaces are Upper Allegheny Health System, Cutco and St Bonaventure University. A four-year degree is less common here than in many places, and the typical commute is a fairly long one; few people work from home.
Things to do. Lime Lake, a reservoir, is a short drive away and is the nearest spot for time on the water. Farther afield, Letchworth State Park is a protected area of gorges and woodland, and Griffis Sculpture Park is an outdoor museum of large artworks, both a longer drive away. Rushford Lake is another lake a longer drive from town.
Report a mistake
- 956households
- 16%of adults have a degree
- 7%below the poverty line
- 28 mintypical commute
- 7%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Cattaraugus County had 28,122 jobs in 2025, 1.6% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 31° and lows near 14°; warmest in July, with highs near 79° and lows near 56°. About 109 inches of snow and 45 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Franklinville weather station, 11 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Cattaraugus County
- Upper Allegheny Health SystemGeneral hospital900FTE
- CutcoCutlery, nonprecious and precious plated metal, manufacturing653
- St Bonaventure UniversityUniversity or college606
- Great Lakes Cheese - FranklinvilleCheese, imitation or substitute, manufacturing513
- Yorkshire-pioneer Central School DistrictSchool district508FTE
- Salamanca City School DistrictSchool district411FTE
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters411
- Olean City School DistrictSchool district407FTE
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 54 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 5,325 people in all across the county; Freedom has one of its own. Hospitals come from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023), colleges from IPEDS (NCES, 2023–24) and school districts from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- LightningRelatively high
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
- Strong windRelatively moderate
- TornadoesRelatively moderate
- Winter weatherRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms across Cattaraugus County, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Cattaraugus County and the Olean, NY metro.
Freedom home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Zip codes with a Freedom address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Freedom — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.