Hudson Valley
Ghent, New York
Ghent is a town in Columbia County, in New York's Hudson Valley region, home to about 5,300 people as of the 2020 census.
Whether you're moving in or you've been here for years, the checks that matter most are the school district, the assessment and STAR, and — outside the cities — the well, the septic, and the flood map.
- Type
- Town
- County
- Columbia
- Region
- Hudson Valley
- Population (2020)
- 5,303
Local Almanac
Notes in and around Ghent
Short, sourced notes tied to this place, its county, or nearby communities.
This place · History & Culture
Ghent keeps a bandstand kind of town memory alive
Ghent Band gives the town a living civic tradition, with free concerts and a local music thread reaching back to 1899.
Read this note ->This place · History & Culture
Art Omi makes Ghent feel like an open-air arts campus
Art Omi gives Ghent Color through a 120-acre sculpture and architecture park, gallery, residencies, and arts education.
Read this note ->This place · The Outdoors
West Ghent Ice Gives Ghent a Winter-Town Detail
Ghent's seasonal municipal ice rink adds small-town winter texture at the West Ghent Community Center.
Read this note ->Nearby · History & Culture
Claverack's Name Still Carries Dutch Map Memory
Claverack's local identity starts with a hard-to-say Dutch place name tied to Hudson Valley maps, riverbank forms, and old landscape description.
Read this note ->Nearby · History & Culture
Kinderhook Keeps Lindenwald Close to Main Street Memory
Kinderhook's identity is anchored by Martin Van Buren, Lindenwald, Old Post Road, and a national historic site that remains part of the local landscape.
Read this note ->Nearby · History & Culture
Chatham Still Reads Like a Rail Hub
Chatham's village story comes from railroad-era Main Street, Tracy Memorial Village Hall, old hotels, shops, and a compact Columbia County crossroads.
Read this note ->Nearby · Rules & Licenses
Claverack Building Permits Start With the Town Forms
Before building, altering, signing, or seeking a variance in Claverack, start with the town's building, zoning, and planning form pages.
Read this note ->Nearby · History & Culture
Kinderhook Carries Presidential History in Village Scale
Kinderhook layers Martin Van Buren, Dutch houses, village greens, farms, and Columbia County civic memory into a compact place identity.
Read this note ->Nearby · History & Culture
Claverack Crosses the Creek on Shaw Bridge
Claverack's local identity includes Shaw Bridge, Claverack Creek, old courthouse memory, and a small-town connection to engineering and courts.
Read this note ->Property tax snapshot
Roughly $11–$16 per $1,000
Combined full-value rate — county + town/city + school district, per $1,000 of market value (FY2025). On a $300,000 home that's about $3,302–$4,849 a year before the STAR break.
A planning estimate, not a bill. Your exact rate depends on your school district and any village. Confirm with the assessor.
Statewide links
Statewide starting points.
Good to know
- • Your assessed value usually isn't your market value — ask for the equalization rate.
- • Register for STAR; new applicants generally receive a credit instead of an automatic exemption on the bill.
- • Outside the cities, check the well, the septic, and the FEMA flood map before you buy.
Nearby
Nearby places
Tax rates: NYS Dept of Taxation & Finance (ORPTS), Real Property Tax Rates and Levy Data by Municipality, data.ny.gov dataset iq85-sdzs. (FY2025). Population: U.S. Census 2020. Reviewed June 2026. Source data ->
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