Greene County, New York

Greene County is a county in New York, United States, about 30 miles south of Albany on the
west bank of the Hudson River. It had a population of 47,931 at the 2020 census, an estimated
47,400 by 2024, and covers 658 square miles (1,700 km2) centred near 42°17′N 74°08′W.

Catskill is the county seat and its largest village; its postal code is 12414. The county
holds 5 incorporated villages and roughly 70 smaller hamlets and census-designated places across
14 towns, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 36039.

Towns & Villages in Greene County

Greene County has more than 75 named places on record: 5 incorporated villages and the rest
unincorporated hamlets or census-designated places (CDPs) with no local government of their own.
CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities with no
formal boundary.

Two pairs of names on this list are easy to confuse. There are two hamlets called Four Corners
— one in the town of Ashland, one in the town of Prattsville, on opposite sides of the
county. And Elka Park and Platte Clove, both in the town of Hunter, share the ZIP code 12427;
neither has its own post office.

Civil Towns

New York’s minor civil divisions are called towns, not townships, but they work the same way:
every acre of Greene County sits inside one of the 14 listed below, sorted by 2020 population.

ZIP Codes

• 12414 — Catskill (also serves Jefferson Heights, Cairo Junction, Alsen and Smiths Landing)
• 12451 — Leeds
• 12463 — Palenville
• 12442 — Hunter
• 12485 — Tannersville
• 12427 — Elka Park (also serves Platte Clove)
• 12436 — Haines Falls
• 12450 — Lanesville
• 12444 — Jewett
• 12424 — East Jewett
• 12051 — Coxsackie
• 12192 — West Coxsackie
• 12042 — Climax
• 12176 — Surprise
• 12015 — Athens
• 12413 — Cairo (also serves South Cairo’s mail before local delivery to 12482)
• 12482 — South Cairo
• 12470 — Purling
• 12473 — Round Top
• 12405 — Acra
• 12083 — Greenville
• 12431 — Freehold
• 12124 — New Baltimore
• 12087 — Hannacroix
• 12422 — Durham
• 12418 — Cornwallville
• 12423 — East Durham
• 12460 — Oak Hill
• 12496 — Windham
• 12439 — Hensonville
• 12454 — Maplecrest
• 12468 — Prattsville
• 12452 — Lexington
• 12492 — West Kill (also serves Spruceton)
• 12430 — Halcott Center
• 12407 — Ashland

Roughly forty smaller hamlets — among them Cauterskill, High Falls, Kiskatom, Lawrenceville,
Hamburg, Athens Station, Deans Mill, Grapeville, Otter Hook, Result and North Settlement —
have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under the nearest post-office town’s
code.

Geography

Greene County runs from low, rolling farmland along the Hudson River in the north and east to
the steep peaks of the Catskill Park in the south. Hunter Mountain, at 4,040 feet, is the
county’s highest point and the second-highest summit in the Catskills after Slide Mountain in
neighbouring Ulster County. Kaaterskill Falls, near the Catskill–Hunter town line, is New
York’s tallest waterfall at 260 feet. Of the county’s 658 square miles, 647 are land and 11 are
water, about 1.7 percent — most of it the Hudson River itself, which forms the county’s
eastern boundary.

Albany County lies directly to the north (no separate Greene-side post covers it), Columbia
County borders across the Hudson to the east, Ulster County lies to the south, Delaware County to
the west, and Schoharie County to the northwest. Columbia County, Ulster County, Delaware County and Schoharie County all have posts on this
site; Albany County does not yet.

Demographics

Greene County had a population of 47,931 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 47,400 residents as of 2024. Catskill and Coxsackie are the two largest towns, each
home to more than a third of the county between them. Median household income runs about
$77,945 (2024 estimate), below New York’s statewide figure of $82,095 (2023 ACS). Population
density works out to roughly 74 people per square mile of land, low for a county this close to
Albany, reflecting how much of Greene sits inside the mountainous Catskill Park.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 2,479 people,
followed by retail trade at 2,454 and educational services at 2,006. New York’s prison agency runs two facilities in the town of Coxsackie, Coxsackie Correctional
Facility and Greene Correctional Facility, which together rank among the county’s largest
employers; Coxsackie Correctional, a maximum-security facility opened in 1935, houses roughly 900
inmates. Tourism built around skiing and mountain
recreation drives much of the rest of the county’s economy: Hunter Mountain, in the town of
Hunter, and Windham Mountain Club, in the town of Windham, are the county’s two ski resorts.
Windham Mountain Club runs 54 trails across 285 acres on two peaks reaching 3,100 feet. Both
resorts host warm-weather events — Hunter Mountain’s Oktoberfest weekends each fall are
among the county’s biggest draws.

History

New York’s legislature created Greene County on March 25, 1800, by dividing parts of Albany
County (360 square miles) and Ulster County (270 square miles). It was named for Nathanael Greene,
a Revolutionary War general who commanded American forces in the Southern Campaign.

The county became a center of American landscape painting in the early 19th century. Thomas
Cole, founder of the Hudson River School, lived at Cedar Grove in Catskill village from 1833 until
his death in 1848, painting there while the nearby Catskill Mountain House — a grand resort
hotel perched on the escarpment above Palenville — drew visitors to the same mountain scenery
that inspired his work. Washington Irving set his story “Rip Van Winkle” in these same
Catskill Mountains. Cole’s home was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965 and became
the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in 1999.

Getting There

The New York State Thruway (Interstate 87) crosses the county’s eastern edge through the
town of Catskill, the only interstate access point. US Route 9W runs north–south along the
Hudson, and NY Route 23 crosses the county east–west, continuing over the Rip Van Winkle
Bridge into Columbia County. NY Routes 23A, 32, 32A and 145 connect the smaller towns.

• Albany — about 30 miles north
• Kingston — about 25 miles south
• Hudson — about 8 miles east, across the Rip Van Winkle Bridge
• Woodstock — about 20 miles south, in neighbouring Ulster County

Albany International Airport, the nearest major commercial airport, lies north of the county in
the Capital Region. Amtrak trains on the Empire Service and Ethan Allen Express lines stop at the
Hudson station, across the Rip Van Winkle Bridge in Columbia County.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Greene County located?
It sits on the west bank of the Hudson River in New York, about 30 miles south of Albany, bordered
by Albany, Columbia, Ulster, Delaware and Schoharie counties.

What is the population of Greene County?
47,931 at the 2020 census, with an estimate near 47,400 as of 2024.

How big is Greene County?
658 square miles (1,700 km2), of which 647 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Greene County?
Catskill, formed on March 25, 1800, is the county seat and largest village.

How many towns and villages are in Greene County?
Five incorporated villages — Catskill, Coxsackie, Athens, Tannersville and Hunter —
spread across 14 towns, plus roughly 70 unincorporated hamlets and census-designated places.

What ZIP codes does Greene County use?
More than thirty, led by 12414 for Catskill, 12051 for Coxsackie, 12015 for Athens, 12442 for
Hunter and 12485 for Tannersville.

What is Greene County known for?
The Catskill Park and its ski resorts, Hunter Mountain and Windham Mountain Club, and its role as
the birthplace of the Hudson River School of painting, centered on Thomas Cole’s home in
Catskill village.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in New York.