Welcome to Elmira ...
The city of Elmira is located in Chemung County<1> and is the County Seat for Chemung County.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Elmira, you might consider that their post office opened in 1809.
When the people of Elmira refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Elmiran<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Elmira has a population of 27,047 people<3> (see below for details).
Elmira is 850 feet [259 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Elmira lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
The telephone area code for Elmira: (607)
The ZIP code for Elmira: 14901<5>
Websites for Elmira ...
Official Website: www.ci.elmira.ny.us/
Chamber of Commerce: www.chemungchamber.org/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Elmira had an population of 27,047 people. This is a decrease of 7.37% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 12.58% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Elmira had a population of 29,200 people (which is 32.87% of the total population of Chemung County). This makes Elmira the county's most populous community.
The population of Elmira represents 0.15% of the total population of New York (which has 19,378,102 people), making it the state's 77th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 29,200 people, the population of Elmira decreased 5.62% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 30,940 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Elmira.
Communities Also Named Elmira ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 14 communities that are also named Elmira - they are located in California, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Prince Edward Island, South Dakota and West Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Elmira.
Communities near Elmira ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Elmira.
- Corning
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
- Corning is located in Steuben County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,632 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corning <6>
- Sayre
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sayre
- Sayre is located in Bradford County (PA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,338 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sayre <6>
- Waverly
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
- Waverly is located in Tioga County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,110 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waverly <6>
- Athens
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Athens have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athens
- Athens is located in Bradford County (PA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,180 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Athens <6>
- Painted Post
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Painted Post
- Painted Post is located in Steuben County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,906 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Painted Post <6>
- Montour Falls
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montour Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montour Falls
- Montour Falls is located in Schuyler County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,592 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montour Falls <6>
- South Corning
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Corning have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Corning
- South Corning is located in Steuben County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,080 people
- South Waverly
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Waverly have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Waverly
- South Waverly is located in Bradford County (PA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,006 people
- Spencer
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spencer have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer
- Spencer is located in Tioga County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 702 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spencer <6>
- Lawrenceville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrenceville
- Lawrenceville is located in Tioga County (PA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 633 people
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Elmira. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Elmira.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Elmira. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Elmira.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Elmira. Our list includes 63 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Elmira.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Elmira ...
Looking for more information about Elmira? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Elmira, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Elmira.
Adding Elmira to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Elmira in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Elmira was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>
From that list, the Elmira post office opened in 1809.
We also found Elmira in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Elmira.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Elmira: www.ci.elmira.ny.us/
The official website for Chemung County: www.chemungcounty.com/
The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of New York's counties, including Chemung, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Elmira refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Elmira may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Elmira. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Elmira - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Elmira). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Elmira or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <8> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |