Worcester, New York.
. Oneonta, 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 Worcester, Otsego County, New York
Worcester, in Otsego County, had 986 people in the 2020 census. Unemployment in Otsego County was 4.4% in August 2026, and the county had 2.0% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Otsego County work in schools and health care, then shops.
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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Worcester is a small rural community in Otsego County, New York, home to a small number of people and very quiet by most measures. Winters are cold, with January the coldest month, and a great deal of snow falls over the year, while July brings the mildest, warmest days. Rain and melted snow add up to a fair amount through the seasons.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, with others in shops, in restaurants and hotels, or in manufacturing. Across Otsego County, some of the largest workplaces are SUNY Oneonta, Aurelia Osborn FOX Memorial Hospital and Hartwick College. Commutes tend to be long, and some people work from home. Incomes sit below the county's, and the county has added jobs over the past year.
Things to do. Hudson Lake and Decatur Creek are in or beside town, and Betty and Wilbur Davis State Park, a protected area, is a short drive away. For a longer outing, Otsego Lake and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum are a longer drive away.
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- 24%of adults have a degree
- 33 mintypical commute
- 10%work from home
What people in Otsego County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Otsego County had 22,645 jobs in 2025, 2.0% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 23° and lows near 14°; warmest in July, with highs near 73° and lows near 59°. About 86 inches of snow and 48 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Cooperstown weather station, 12 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Otsego County
- SUNY OneontaUniversity or college1,126
- Springbrook401
- Aurelia Osborn Fox Memorial HospitalGeneral hospital382FTE
- Hartwick CollegeUniversity or college366
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters348
- Oneonta City School DistrictSchool district295FTE
- Corning Inc - OneontaBottles, plastics, manufacturing205
- AvangridDistribution of electric power187
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 49 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 3,838 people in all across the county; Worcester has one of its own. Colleges come from IPEDS (NCES, 2023–24), hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023) 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
- Inland floodingRelatively high
- Cold wavesRelatively high
- Winter weatherRelatively moderate
- Strong windRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Worcester’s census tracts, 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 Otsego County and the Oneonta, NY metro.
Worcester 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 4 Worcester 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.
- Worcester26.41%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Worcester20
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Worcester6
Zip codes with a Worcester address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Worcester — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.