Hudson Valley
Highlands, New York
Highlands is a town in Orange County, in New York's Hudson Valley region, home to about 13,000 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
- Orange
- Region
- Hudson Valley
- Population (2020)
- 12,939
Local Almanac
Notes in and around Highlands
Short, sourced notes tied to this place, its county, or nearby communities.
This place · History & Culture
Highlands Guards the Hudson Narrows
Highlands' Fort Montgomery landscape ties West Point, Bear Mountain, river defense, and present museum work together.
Read this note ->This place · The Outdoors
Bear Mountain makes the Hudson Highlands a daily Rockland neighbor
Bear Mountain State Park gives Rockland and Orange a Hudson Highlands story through terrain, park roads, trails, lake, and regional day-use habits.
Read this note ->Nearby · History & Culture
Philipstown Carries Foundry Brook and Civil War Iron
Philipstown's Cold Spring story connects Foundry Brook, river shipping, Civil War ordnance, industrial ruins, and a National Historic Landmark landscape.
Read this note ->Nearby · History & Culture
Cornwall's Storm King Story Spreads Across the Landscape
Cornwall's Storm King Art Center turns fields, woods, sculpture, and Moodna Creek landscape into a local identity.
Read this note ->Nearby · History & Culture
Storm King gives Cornwall a landscape-art address
Storm King gives Cornwall a 500-acre outdoor museum where large-scale sculpture turns the Hudson Highlands landscape into a cultural landmark.
Read this note ->Nearby · Home & Property
Hudson River Charm Still Needs a Flood Map Check
River-town buyers and renovators should check FEMA flood maps and local floodplain rules before treating a scenic Hudson address as ordinary property.
Read this note ->Nearby · History & Culture
Woodbury Runs Through the Clove
Woodbury's local identity ties Woodbury Clove, Highland Mills, Central Valley, and an old stagecoach route together.
Read this note ->Nearby · History & Culture
Boscobel Gives Philipstown a House-and-Hudson Story
Boscobel gives Philipstown a Hudson-facing house, garden, and cultural landscape layer beyond the Cold Spring village center.
Read this note ->Nearby · History & Culture
Manitoga gives Philipstown a design-in-the-woods story
Manitoga gives Philipstown a Russel Wright house, woodland paths, and a design landscape in the Hudson Highlands.
Read this note ->Property tax snapshot
Roughly $22–$33 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 $6,558–$9,804 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 ->
Page feedback
Send a page note
Send a note about this page. The page address will be included automatically.
Page feedback
Send a note
This is for fixing the site: wrong details, unclear wording, broken links, outdated information, or useful local context.