Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety46#8,489/15,637
Economy4#14,930/15,631
Housing31#10,311/14,977
Health41#9,286/15,609
Healthcare72#4,351/15,650
Environment41#9,024/15,453
Education56#6,898/15,649
Infrastructure68#5,026/15,650
Community60#6,326/15,651
Leisure & amenities79#3,338/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Buffalo, New York ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Erie County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Public transit commuters · high8.1%
96/100New York 21.6%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301
Distance to an airport · low8 mi
96/100New York 15 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauErie County value
Students per teacher · low11.2×
92/100New York 12.0×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsErie County value
Hot days · low3 days
91/100New York 3 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationErie County value
Traffic deaths · low6.0 /100k
89/100New York 5.6 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataErie County value
Grocery stores · high2.5 /10k
88/100New York 3.4 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsErie County value

Weaknesses

Child poverty rate · high35.5%
1/100New York 17.9%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Child care cost burden · high42.9%
3/100New York 37.7%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteErie County value
Poverty rate · high26.0%
4/100New York 14.0%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Time spent in the emergency room · high246 min
4/100New York 202 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesErie County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.502
4/100New York 0.517United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Lack of reliable transportation · high14.5%
10/100New York 9.1%United States 8.3%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
256,480 (2015-2019) → 276,854 (2020-2024)
+7.9%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
74.6% (2015-2019) → 88.5% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
46.0% (2015-2019) → 35.5% (2020-2024)
−10 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.4× (2015-2019) → 3.3× (2020-2024)
+36%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Median household incomeImproving
$37,354 (2015-2019) → $50,041 (2020-2024)
+34%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
New homes permittedWorsening
1.1 /1k (2021) → 0.8 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−27%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Buffalo, New York improved on 7 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 5 moved within the margin of error and 1 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved7

Child poverty−10 points46.0% → 35.5%
Broadband+14 points74.6% → 88.5%
Poverty−4.1 points30.1% → 26.0%
High school++2.4 points84.6% → 87.0%
Household income+34%$37,354 → $50,041

Declined2

Price / income+0.9×2.4× → 3.3×
Transit use−3.2 points11.3% → 8.1%

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Buffalo, New York between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.0 min2015-2019	19.9 min2020-2024	−1.1 min	Improved	62%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.6%2015-2019	31.2%2020-2024	+3.5 points	Improved	56%
Broadband subscriptions	74.6%2015-2019	88.5%2020-2024	+14 points	Improved	76%
Child poverty rate	46.0%2015-2019	35.5%2020-2024	−10 points	Improved	83%
Effective property tax rate	1.35%2015-2019	1.03%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Little change	76%
High school diploma or higher	84.6%2015-2019	87.0%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Improved	63%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	3.3×2020-2024	+0.9×	Declined	27%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5092015-2019	0.5022020-2024	−0.007	Within the margin of error	57%
Median household income	$37,3542015-2019	$50,0412020-2024	+34%	Improved	63%
Poverty rate	30.1%2015-2019	26.0%2020-2024	−4.1 points	Improved	76%
Public transit commuters	11.3%2015-2019	8.1%2020-2024	−3.2 points	Declined	10%
Rent as share of income	32.0%2015-2019	31.4%2020-2024	−0.6 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent-burdened households	53.1%2015-2019	52.3%2020-2024	−0.8 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Unemployment rate	7.1%2015-2019	7.3%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	44%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	5.1%2015-2019	4.6%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	53%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Buffalo, New York five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Buffalo, New York in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Buffalo, New York itself moved +2.9 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

276,854 residents (±74)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79
60–69
50–59
40–49
30–39
20–29
10–19
Under 10

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 20–29 men (−1.4 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

276,854 residents (±74)

Buffalo, New York
New York share

White42%117,470
Black31%86,532
Hispanic or Latino12%33,987
Asian8.7%24,192
American Indian and Alaska Native0.3%790
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander0.0%†14
Other or two or more races5.0%13,869

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Black (−4.3 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B03002View table on data.census.gov

Education

184,827 residents (±1,560)

Buffalo, New York
New York share

No high school diploma13%24,027
High school or GED27%49,903
Some college19%35,439
Associate degree9.6%17,814
Bachelor's degree17%31,451
Graduate degree14%26,193

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Graduate degree (+2.5 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B15003View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

119,630 households (±1,553)

Buffalo, New York
New York share

Under $25k27%32,688
$25k–50k23%27,091
$50k–75k17%20,595
$75k–100k11%13,311
$100k–150k12%14,002
$150k–200k4.7%5,645
$200k or more5.3%6,298

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under $25k (−9.1 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

119,630 households (±1,553)

Buffalo, New York
New York share

Own43%51,496
Rent57%68,134

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+2.3 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

66,015 households (±1,638)

Buffalo, New York
New York share

Under $75021%13,716
$750–1,00025%16,536
$1,000–1,50038%24,783

Home values

51,496 homes (±1,556)

Buffalo, New York
New York share

Under $150k45%23,223
$150k–250k25%12,779
$250k–400k16%8,430

Age of homes

136,850 homes (±1,365)

Buffalo, New York
New York share

2010 or later2.9%3,915
2000–20091.7%2,381
1980–19995.7%7,798

Size of homes

136,850 homes (±1,365)

Buffalo, New York
New York share

Studio3.0%4,061
1 bedroom13%17,918
2 bedrooms28%38,968

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

120,738 workers (±2,331)

Buffalo, New York
New York share

Drive alone63%75,823
Carpool10%12,287
Public transit8.1%9,804
Walk4.5%5,414
Bike0.7%813
Work from home11%13,628
Other2.5%2,969

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Work from home (+8.6 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

107,110 workers (±2,179)

Buffalo, New York
New York share

Under 15 min33%35,491
15–29 min48%51,382
30–44 min12%13,115

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Erie County, the county holding most of Buffalo's residents.

Erie County has 22,497 employer establishments, 237 for every 10,000 residents (0.96× the US rate of 248; 0.87× New York's), with 418,202 paid employees at an average annual pay of $58,979. The Census Bureau also counts 63,955 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 22,497; 63,955 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 237; US 248 · New York 274
Paid employees: 418,202
Average annual pay: $58,979; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Erie County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	1,777	18.8	1.02×About typical	33,317	$23,434	317
Ambulatory health care services	1,676	17.7	0.85×About typical	28,301	$68,400	3,255
Specialty trade contractors	1,376	14.5	0.94×About typical	12,669	$73,775	2,634
Lessors of real estate	827	8.7	0.71×Fewer than typical	4,986	$50,452	7,328
Limited-service restaurants	799	8.4	1.05×About typical	14,331	$21,664	131
Services to buildings and dwellings	788	8.3	1.23×About typical	5,058	$37,808	2,187
Full-service restaurants	742	7.8	1.02×About typical	16,195	$25,213	123
Construction of buildings	694	7.3	0.97×About typical	3,544	$69,976	1,072
Offices of physicians	575	6.1	0.94×About typical	10,190	$96,357	728
Personal care services	567	6	1.25×More than typical	2,646	$29,070	2,913
Legal services	510	5.4	1.00×About typical	4,812	$80,416	1,072
Automotive repair and maintenance	495	5.2	1.04×About typical	2,906	$49,080	398

Rank places for an industry Open Erie County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 947,418 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $56.5M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Buffalo, New York: $204 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $56.5M; −22% vs FY2025
Per resident: $204; US $1,994
Sole-source: 28%; US 30%
Single offer: 13%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of Veterans Affairs$23.5M42%
Department of the Army$16.1M28%
U.S. Coast Guard$6.9M12%
U.S. Customs and Border Protection$3.3M5.8%
Defense Logistics Agency$2.1M3.7%
Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$1.6M2.9%
Office of Procurement Operations$1M1.8%
Public Buildings Service$607.9K1.1%

Top recipients

BASALT INTERNATIONAL INC$6.9M12%
ONEILL CONTRACTORS INC$6M11%
MORRISH-WALLACE CONSTRUCTION, INC.$4.2M7.5%
NATIONAL GRID USA SERVICE COMPANY, INC.$4.1M7.2%
UNIVERSITY EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES INC$3.9M7.0%

Spending by fiscal year

47.5MFY2017
47.1MFY2018
47.8MFY2019
46.2MFY2020
63.3MFY2021
59.3MFY2022
82.1MFY2023
69M

Top industries (NAICS)

Nonresidential building construction · 2362$8.6M15%
Plastics product manufacturing · 3261$6.9M12%
Electric power generation, transmission and distribution · 2211$5.3M9.4%
Other heavy and civil engineering construction · 2379$4.5M7.9%
Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment rental and leasing · 5324$4.2M7.4%
Colleges, universities, and professional schools · 6113

Part of this section could not be loaded in time.

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Buffalo, New York, so they do not add up across cities.

Buffalo, New York's figures are part of those of Erie County, NY ($249M in FY2026), never added to them: 23% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Buffalo is mostly in Erie County.

See federal money in Erie County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Buffalo, New York is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Erie County76100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY81

Other cities and towns in Erie County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3611000

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends