More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Buffalo to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Buffalo are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Buffalo ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Buffalo area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Buffalo proper, although Williamsville certainly tries.
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.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 worst suburbs around Buffalo for 2024
- Youngstown
- Lackawanna
- Niagara Falls
- Springville
- Lockport
- Blasdell
- Akron
- Silver Creek
- Attica
- Angola
Now don’t freak out.
What’s the worst suburb of Buffalo? Youngstown ranks as the worst suburb of Buffalo for 2024 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.
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.
The 10 Worst Buffalo Suburbs To Live For 2024
1. Youngstown
/10
Population: 60,048
Median Income: $34,295 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 13.2% (highest)
Median Home Value: $52,826 (lowest)
More on 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.
/10
Population: 19,762
Median Income: $46,869 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.4% (9th highest)
Median Home Value: $138,652 (3rd lowest)
More on Lackawanna: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Welcome to Lackawanna. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 5.3 miles to Buffalo. Income levels here are the 3rd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $46,869 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.
But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.
/10
Population: 48,502
Median Income: $45,932 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.1% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $148,929 (4th lowest)
More on Niagara Falls: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Buffalo suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Niagara Falls 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 dropout rate is poor compared to other Buffalo suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
4. Springville
/10
Population: 4,223
Median Income: $55,305 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (12th highest)
Median Home Value: $227,575 (12th lowest)
More on Springville:
If you live in Springville, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 5th lowest Buffalo suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 12th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Buffalo. Remember, we looked at 21 cities for this study.
Springville is about 28.2 miles to downtown.
/10
Population: 20,808
Median Income: $56,053 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.7% (7th highest)
Median Home Value: $228,847 (13th lowest)
More on Lockport: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Lockport has the distinction of being a Buffalo suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Lockport has the 13th lowest home values in the metro Buffalo area, where the median price is $228,847. The median income is $95,216.
Lockport has an unemployment rate of 5.69% which ranks 7th worst.
6. Blasdell
/10
Population: 2,551
Median Income: $58,611 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.9% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $172,461 (6th lowest)
More on Blasdell: Crime
Blasdell has 2,551 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 15.092120736965894%.
7. Akron
/10
Population: 2,911
Median Income: $48,289 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.3% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $271,187 (17th lowest)
More on Akron: Crime
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 (9.31%).
8. Silver Creek
/10
Population: 2,623
Median Income: $67,396 (13th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.4% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $173,819 (7th lowest)
More on Silver Creek:
Silver Creek is a city about 28.8 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. Silver Creek has the 10th most uninsured people, 13th worst incomes, and has the 6th highest unemployment rate (6.39%) in the entire Buffalo metro area.
Homes only cost $173,819 for a reason. That’s cheap for Buffalo standards.
9. Attica
/10
Population: 2,135
Median Income: $61,311 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.4% (13th highest)
Median Home Value: $153,495 (5th lowest)
More on Attica: Crime
If you absolutely have to live near Buffalo, then Attica might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Buffalo suburb.
About 4.43% of residents are out of work.
10. Angola
/10
Population: 2,688
Median Income: $71,809 (15th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 2.7% (18th highest)
Median Home Value: $187,911 (8th lowest)
More on Angola:
Rounding out the ten worst Buffalo suburbs to call home is Angola.
Located 19.6 miles outside the city, Angolas is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 18th highest unemployment rate (2.73%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Buffalo for 2024
To figure out how bad a Buffalo suburb is to live in, we used Saturday Night Science to identify the kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.
Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2018-2022, 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 dropouts
- High poverty
- High rate of uninsured families
We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of Buffalo.
We also limited the analysis to places with 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 looking at you, Youngstown.
We updated this article for 2024, which reflects our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Buffalo.
Summary: The areas around Buffalo where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2024
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Buffalo with Youngstown casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Buffalo are .
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Buffalo aren’t all bad. Williamsville takes the cake as the best place to live around Buffalo.
- Williamsville
- Hamburg
- East Aurora
For more New York reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In New York
- Cheapest Places To Live In New York
- Most Dangerous Places In New York
- Best Places To Retire In New York
- Richest Cities In New York
- Safest Places In New York According To Science
- Worst Places To Live In New York State
Detailed List Of The Worst Buffalo Suburbs
| Rank | City | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Youngstown | 60,048 | $34,295 | $52,826 |
| 2 | Lackawanna | 19,762 | $46,869 | $138,652 |
| 3 | Niagara Falls | 48,502 | $45,932 | $148,929 |
| 4 | Springville | 4,223 | $55,305 | $227,575 |
| 5 | Lockport | 20,808 | $56,053 | $228,847 |
| 6 | Blasdell | 2,551 | $58,611 | $172,461 |
| 7 | Akron | 2,911 | $48,289 | $271,187 |
| 8 | Silver Creek | 2,623 | $67,396 | $173,819 |
| 9 | Attica | 2,135 | $61,311 | $153,495 |
| 10 | Angola | 2,688 | $71,809 | $187,911 |
| 11 | Sloan | 3,762 | $65,717 | $126,165 |
| 12 | Alden | 2,606 | $71,985 | $218,757 |
| 13 | Lewiston | 2,541 | $65,563 | $301,142 |
| 14 | Depew | 15,141 | $68,856 | $231,208 |
| 15 | North Tonawanda | 30,479 | $66,836 | $244,331 |
| 16 | Orchard Park | 3,084 | $91,705 | $388,038 |
| 17 | Kenmore | 15,155 | $74,571 | $210,511 |
| 18 | Lancaster | 10,160 | $61,646 | $200,380 |
| 19 | East Aurora | 5,996 | $95,216 | $385,855 |
| 20 | Hamburg | 9,749 | $93,942 | $260,812 |
| 21 | Williamsville | 5,411 | $93,730 | $364,883 |
As a suburban Buffalonian I do not agree with the ranking. Springville is not that bad and more of a rural area. Overall it is safe and affordable. The ones listed in bad share a common denominator-known drug area. Sloan is pretty bad-I am surprised it better (according to you) than Blasdell. The downfall of Blasdell is the Section 8 housing project they built-Cambridge Square-which causes 99% of the problems in Blasdell. Prior to that it was a working class nicely kept village. Lackawanna basically hit the skids when Bethlehem Steel closed. Center Street is a known high crime/drug area. “Back the bridge”-meaning heading west on Ridge Road always had a bad reputation of high crime, drugs, and projects. Angola is not that bad. Overall safe and affordable. Lot of welfare scammers there though-always had that reputation-but overall not a bad place to live. By the lake in Angola is nice. Same with Silver Creek. I am surprised to see Lancaster as 14. I definietly would not rank Depew over Lancaster. Many new developments with nice homes and working professionals. I definitely would not rank Kenmore that high. Personally I live in Hamburg, which is safe, nice, and convenient. Buffalo has the Northtowns and Southtowns–which are named from their geographical stance from the city. Southtown-East Aurora, Hamburg, Orchard Park are the more desirable suburbs–and heading further south any town is nice (mostly rural). I am not overly familiar with the Northtowns, but I definitely would not rank Kenmore so high on the desirable list. The city itself is crap in my opinion. There are always a handful of pro-Buffalo people around to tell you how great it is-but I work and the city and see what does on there-I prefer to stay far away on my non-work time. Too much poverty and crime there. It use to be just the East side that was bad-now the whole city sucks.
First of all, most of these places I wouldn’t even consider suburbs of Buffalo. I mean Youngstown? Silvercreek? Angola? Attica?? Springville??? Those places are quite a distance from the city. They probably aren’t even part of the metro. I’ve lived in a variety of areas in WNY including Alden (which isn’t really a suburb IMHO either), most of my family is in Lancaster, then moved to Amherst (not on the list? I mean I guess you could lump it in with Kenmore/Williamsville but WTF), South Buffalo, West Seneca, and currently Hamburg. If you were going to do Alden then what about Clarence? Where’s Cheektowaga? This list needs some serious reworking. Take out those far off places and include closer communities.