The city of Oneida is a good example of pre-war city design, i.e., urban planning that is pedestrian-focused and bicycle-friendly; with public buildings, parks, and private residences well-mingled and within walking and biking distance, the city is gaining popularity with telecommuters who can choose where they live without the constraints of job location. Most residents of the city core are within walking distance to elementary schools, churches, and recreational activities. Recently, there has been renewed interest for increased bicycle infrastructure, especially a revitalization of the disused light rail pathways that ring the city's south and north side for multi-use by cyclists and recreation, and as a gateway to and from the inner and outer area retail districts.
Recreational waterways such as the Erie Canal and Oneida Creek are located on the perimeter of the city limits. City parks are distributed throughout the city, with the exception of the rural Mount Hope Reservoir park. Oneida has 10 public tennis courts, seven of them lit, and over 100 acres (0.40 km) of public space used for organized youth sports, fishing, hiking, mountain biking, cross country skiing, and a winter ice skating rink. Oneida is centrally located on the New York State Canalway Trail System, a network of more than 260 miles (420 km) of existing multi-use, recreational trails across upstate New York, with major segments adjacent to the waterways of the New York State Canal System. The Main-Broad-Grove Streets area was classified a historic district in 1983. The Oneida Community Mansion House is highlighted in the Madison County Architectural Heritage Trail.
Oneida is centrally placed between Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo, and New York City; is one hour from the Adirondacks, and is just south of Oneida Lake- the largest lake entirely within New York and known for its clean water and recreational fishing, boating, sailing, and sailboarding. Oneida culture and the arts is also serviced by the Central New York Community Arts Council, providing a regional art and cultural events calendar, and arts advocacy to ensure funding for all arts organizations. Frequent CNYCAC cultural events include jazz and performing arts and artistic events. During the spring and summer months, an open-air farmer's market is held in downtown Oneida with locally-grown produce, and open-air concerts are held in Allen Park featuring live country roots performers.
Oneida is within one of the most optimal regions in the Northeastern U.S. for wind energy, and is several miles from the Fenner Windpower Project, which boasts 20 1.5 megawatt windmills and is the largest windmill farm in New York. Oneida benefits from several academia within commuting distance including Colgate University, Hamilton College, the State University of New York Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, Le Moyne College, Mohawk Valley Community College, Cazenovia College, and State University of New York at Morrisville. In addition to its close proximity to Vernon Downs, a local horse racing track with a long-standing equine heritage, Oneida is located in Madison County- which is seeing a resurgence in sustainable and organic agribusiness tailored to local consumers, and is instituting a Mobile Farmers’ Market called Madison Bounty, where customers (individual households, grocery stores, restaurants, etc.) will be able to order locally grown and processed items online and have them delivered directly to their door.
As of the census of 2000, there were 10,987 people, 4,430 households, and 2,724 families residing in the city. The population density was 498.7 people per square mile (192.6/km²). There were 4,672 housing units at an average density of 212.1/sq mi (81.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.29% White, 0.80% African American, 1.39% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.18% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.84% of the population.
There were 4,431 households out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.5% were non-families. 32.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the city, the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,365, and the median income for a family was $45,242. Males had a median income of $31,244 versus $23,846 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,966. About 8.8% of families and 12.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.
The graduating class of 2006 at Oneida High School consists of 178 students. According the OHS (Oneida High School) webpage there are currently 847 students attending this public school.