The 10 Worst Buffalo Suburbs For 2022


We used science and data to determine which Buffalo suburbs are the real pits.

Not everyone is cut out for city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Buffalo.

So the question arises, do the suburbs maintain a semblance of the larger-than-life appeal of their more famous neighbor?

Today, we'll use science and data to determine which Buffalo 'burbs need a little tender loving care - the sore thumbs of the Buffalo area if you will. Realistically, you can't expect all the suburbs to live up to Buffalo proper, although Hamburg certainly tries.

Of course, not all suburbs of Buffalo are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones..

We examined the 21 biggest suburbs of Buffalo to find out the worst places to live. And while you won't necessarily find them on the worst places to live in New York lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Buffalo in terms of quality of life.

Here are the 10 worst suburbs around Buffalo for 2022:

  1. Youngstown
  2. Niagara Falls
  3. Lackawanna
  4. Lockport
  5. Blasdell
  6. Sloan
  7. Akron
  8. Springville
  9. Angola
  10. North Tonawanda

What's the worst suburb of Buffalo? Youngstown ranks as the worst suburb of Buffalo for 2022 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.

Read on to see how we determined the places around Buffalo that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don't blame the messenger.

Or, if you're thinking of moving to elsewhere in New York check out the best places in New York overall or the worst.

And remember, there are some good places to live around Buffalo too.

Editor's Note: If you see a slight difference between the worst in state rankings and this suburb ranking, it's because of the methodology. We needed a way to include more places, so we eliminated crime and commute times as criteria for this analysis.

For more New York reading, check out:

The 10 Worst Buffalo Suburbs To Live For 2022

1. Youngstown

We'll get the ball rolling with Youngstown, the absolute worst place to live around Buffalo according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Youngstown beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the worst in the Buffalo area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks worst when it comes to home values.

But hey, at least it's cheap to live there. But there's a reason for that... it's Youngstown.

You won't feel bad about not having a great income for the area, there aren't a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 64,152
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $30,129 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 13.6% (highest)
Median Home Value: $46,900 (lowest)
More on Youngstown:

Welcome to Niagara Falls. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.

This city is 15.9 miles to Buffalo. Income levels here are the 3rd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $41,137 a year, which doesn't go a long ways even on a shoestring budget.

But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 47,978
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $41,137 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.5% (5th highest)
Median Home Value: $78,500 (2nd lowest)
More on Niagara Falls:  Data | Photos

Niagara Falls, NY

Back up the highway we go for the third worst Buffalo suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Lackawanna on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that's an understatement.

In terms of numbers, it's in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school drop out rate is poor compared to other Buffalo suburbs.

But at least there are nice parks to bring the kids during the day.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 17,751
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $39,984 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.3% (11th highest)
Median Home Value: $99,400 (6th lowest)
More on Lackawanna:  Data | Photos

Lackawanna, NY

If you live in Lockport, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 4th lowest Buffalo suburb when it comes to residents making money.

Not only that, but this is the 7th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Buffalo. Remember, we looked at 21 cities for this study.

Lockport is about 20.8 miles to downtown.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 20,420
Rank Last Year: 4 (No Change)
Median Income: $46,706 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.9% (7th highest)
Median Home Value: $95,600 (5th lowest)
More on Lockport:  Data | Photos

Lockport, NY

Source: Public domain

Blasdell has the distinction of being a Buffalo suburb. Which means that's about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Blasdell has the 8th lowest home values in the metro Buffalo area, where the median price is $115,900. To put that into perspective, in Hamburg, the median income is $91,588, which is the best in the area.

Blasdell has an unemployment rate of 11.16% which ranks 2nd worst.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,659
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 2)
Median Income: $50,861 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.2% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $115,900 (8th lowest)
More on Blasdell:  Data | Photos

Blasdell, NY

Sloan has 3,547 residents that probably know it's a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you've ever been there, you don't need to look at the data.)

Incomes are towards the bottom and the poverty rate sits at 14.552661381653454%.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 3,547
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 1)
Median Income: $54,813 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.1% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $82,100 (3rd lowest)
More on Sloan:  Data | Photos

Sloan, NY

Source: Wikipedia

Ah, Akron. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Buffalo.

It's the place with the 3rd most out of work residents in the Buffalo metro area (7.52%).

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,860
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 4)
Median Income: $52,392 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.5% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $154,300 (16th lowest)
More on Akron:  Data | Photos

Akron, NY

Source: Public domain

Springville is a city about 28.2 miles from Buffalo, but Buffalo probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.

You'd be hard pressed to find a worse place to live. Springville has the 11th most uninsured people, 6th worst incomes, and has the 14th highest unemployment rate (3.87%) in the entire Buffalo metro area.

Homes only cost $142,800 for a reason. That's cheap for Buffalo standards.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 4,290
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 2)
Median Income: $51,551 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.9% (14th highest)
Median Home Value: $142,800 (14th lowest)
More on Springville:  Data

If you absolutely have to live near Buffalo, then Angola might be a place for you to consider as it's only the 9th worst Buffalo suburb.

About 2.75% of residents are out of work.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,787
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 4)
Median Income: $64,083 (15th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 2.7% (17th highest)
Median Home Value: $121,800 (9th lowest)
More on Angola:  Data

Rounding out the ten worst Buffalo suburbs to call home is North Tonawanda.

Located 10.8 miles outside the city, North Tonawandas is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 4th highest unemployment rate (7.0%), and poverty is far above the area average.

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 30,338
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 2)
Median Income: $60,673 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.0% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $129,200 (12th lowest)
More on North Tonawanda:  Data | Photos

North Tonawanda, NY

Source: Public domain

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Buffalo for 2022

To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what cities have the least amount of those things.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2016-2020, this is the criteria we used:

  • High unemployment rate
  • Low median household incomes
  • Low population density (no things to do)
  • Low home values
  • A lot of high school drop outs
  • High poverty
  • High rate of uninsured families

FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Buffalo.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 21 suburbs to evaluate around Buffalo.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 21 in each category, where 1 was the "worst".

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.

And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index the "Worst Suburb near Buffalo." We're lookin' at you, Youngstown. You can download the data here.

Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the worst of the worst. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from worst to best.

Summary: The areas around Buffalo where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2022

Well there you have it -- the worst of the 'burbs surrounding Buffalo with Youngstown casting itself ahead of the pack.

As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Buffalo aren't all bad. Hamburg takes the cake as the best place to live around Buffalo.

  • Hamburg
  • Williamsville
  • Orchard Park

For more New York reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst Buffalo Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 Youngstown 64,152 $30,129 $46,900
2 Niagara Falls 47,978 $41,137 $78,500
3 Lackawanna 17,751 $39,984 $99,400
4 Lockport 20,420 $46,706 $95,600
5 Blasdell 2,659 $50,861 $115,900
6 Sloan 3,547 $54,813 $82,100
7 Akron 2,860 $52,392 $154,300
8 Springville 4,290 $51,551 $142,800
9 Angola 2,787 $64,083 $121,800
10 North Tonawanda 30,338 $60,673 $129,200
11 Silver Creek 2,328 $64,500 $85,800
12 Lancaster 10,087 $54,924 $128,400
13 Lewiston 2,582 $55,781 $175,800
14 Depew 15,069 $62,740 $124,800
15 Attica 2,912 $62,335 $103,700
16 Alden 2,565 $59,444 $149,700
17 East Aurora 6,172 $76,393 $250,100
18 Kenmore 15,081 $70,330 $142,600
19 Orchard Park 3,131 $91,588 $248,500
20 Williamsville 5,194 $75,323 $191,200
21 Hamburg 9,672 $85,208 $184,000

How Is Your Town In ?

Editor's Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don't freak out we updated this article for 2022. This is our ninth time ranking the worst suburbs around Buffalo.
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.