Dobbs Ferry was ranked seventh in the list of the top 10 places to live in New York State for 2014, according to the national online real estate brokerage Movoto.

John was English, son of Walter Dobbs who can be found in the historical record getting a liquor license in Manhattan in 1680, leasing land on the East River to harvest salt marsh hay soon after, and serving as a constable in the Bowery Ward.

John grew up in Manhattan, the nephew of the wealthy and politically prominent William Merritt, a mariner and businessman.

John leased the waterfront and adjoining acreage at present-day Dobbs Ferry from Frederick Phillips in 1698, when he was about 23 and single.

Simultaneously his uncle William Merritt moved to a large parcel he co-owned on the opposite bank, at what was later called Snedens Landing (now Palisades, NY).

It was a natural place for a ferry since it was the first spot going north from the city where the west bank was not blocked by the sheer rock cliff known as The Palisades.

By 1739 ownership of the ferry service passed to Robert and Mary ("Mollie) Sneden who first rented and then bought a portion of Merritt's former holdings.

[8] There is a conflicting version of this history that is widely disseminated, which gives a prominent role to one Jeremiah Dobbs, but this has been debunked by recent careful research.

Patriots on the west bank ordered the Tory Snedens to cease their involvement with the ferry because they were aiding the British cause.

But on August 14, 1781, a communication was received from French Admiral Comte de Grasse in the West Indies, which caused Washington to change his strategy.

The current local government of Dobbs Ferry is headed by Mayor Vincent Rossillo, a Democrat, who was elected in November 2019.

Wickers Creek (name derived from the indigenous Weckquaesgeek) runs east to west through the center of the village from its main source in the Juhring Nature Preserve, Todd's Pond.

The neighborhoods are: Springhurst Park, Broadway, Wickers Creek, Waterfront, Old Town, Fairmead, Riverview Manor, Villard, Osborne, Belden, Maple, Walgrove, Virginia, Beacon Hill, Campuses and Woods, Parkway, Southfield, Knoll, Northfield, and Juhring.

[29] Mercy University, a private institution with undergraduate and graduate programs, has its main campus in Dobbs Ferry.

Our Lady of Victory Academy, a local parochial school offering grades 9–12 for girls, was located on the campus of Mercy College until its closing in 2011.

[26] Several lines of the Bee-Line Bus System run through Dobbs Ferry, facilitating north-south travel along the Broadway/Route 9 corridor and east-west along Ashford Avenue.

[31] Commuter rail service to Grand Central Terminal is available via the Dobbs Ferry station, served by Metro-North Railroad.

[32] The village's Recreation Department runs a variety of programs out of the Embassy Community Center, including art and dance classes, sports leagues, summer camp, and other activities open to the public.

The Old Croton Aqueduct Trailway, a linear State Park, runs north-south through the village on its western side.

Dobbs Ferry is served by a paid police department, a volunteer fire department (housing three pumpers and one tower ladder in two firehouses) and a volunteer ambulance corps (possessing two ambulances (one equipped with four-wheel-drive) and a fire rehab unit).