Jay, New York.
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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 Jay, Essex County, New York
Jay is a town of 2,486 people in Essex County. 88% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 12% are rented. Unemployment in Essex County was 3.3% in August 2026, and the county had 3.1% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in construction, then restaurants and hotels.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Jay is a small town in the Adirondack country of Essex County, where the population is older than in much of the country and nearly everyone owns the home they live in. Fewer people live below the poverty line here than in many places, and most adults do not hold a four-year degree. Winters are cold and snowy, with January the coldest month, while summers are warm without being hot.
Work. Residents work mostly in the building trades, in restaurants, hotels and entertainment, in schools, hospitals and social care, and in manufacturing. Some of the largest workplaces in Jay are Northline Utilities, which builds power lines, Ward Lumber Company, a building-materials supplier, and Ward Pine Mill, which turns logs into lumber. Unemployment is low and has held steady over the past year, and the county has added jobs. The typical commute is a fairly long one, and a small share of people work from home.
Things to do. The amusement parks Santa's Workshop and Land of Makebelieve are a short drive away, and both are popular with families. Farther afield, a longer drive brings you to Lake Champlain and to Mirror Lake, both good places to be near the water. The Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum, also a longer drive, recalls the area's winter sports history.
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- 973households
- 31%of adults have a degree
- 7%below the poverty line
- 28 mintypical commute
- 9%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Essex County had 15,228 jobs in 2025, 3.1% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 28° and lows near 10°; warmest in July, with highs near 82° and lows near 60°.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Peru Wsw weather station, 14 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Jay
- Northline UtilitiesTransmission and distribution line construction467
- Ward Lumber CompanyHome centers, building materials64
- Ward Pine MillLumber made from logs or bolts33
- Blue Chip 2000 Commercial Cleaning27
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 4 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 591 people in all. 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
- LandslidesRelatively high
- AvalanchesRelatively moderate
- LightningRelatively moderate
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
- Ice stormsRelatively 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 Essex County, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively low. 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 Essex County.
Jay 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.
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 5 Jay listings — the market is roughly in balance.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Jay18.55%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Jay27
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Zip codes with a Jay address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Jay — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.