The 10 Best Buffalo Suburbs To Live In For 2023


The best Buffalo suburbs are Williamsville and Hamburg for 2023 based on Saturday Night Science.

While big cities like Buffalo offer culture, cuisine, and charisma, they also deliver terrible traffic, towering expenses, and a taxing quality of life.

With that in mind, we wanted to uncover the best suburbs around Buffalo. These burbs have all of the benefits of being near Buffalo without actually having to be in the city.

Of course, not all suburbs of Buffalo are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. Using Saturday Night Science, we delve into the factors that matter most, from commutes and housing costs to community vibes, to help you uncover the perfect suburban spots in the Greater Buffalo area.

Here are the 10 best suburbs to live around Buffalo for 2023:

  1. Williamsville
  2. Hamburg
  3. East Aurora
  4. Kenmore
  5. Orchard Park
  6. Lancaster
  7. Alden
  8. Attica
  9. Lewiston
  10. Depew

What’s the best suburb of Buffalo? Williamsville ranks as the best suburb of Buffalo for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Williamsville, you’re probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.

We’ll tell you what makes each of these 10 Buffalo ‘burbs better than the rest–but first, a bit about our methodology.

Feel free to check out some more reading about New York:


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 Best Buffalo Suburbs To Live For 2023

Williamsville, NY

Source: Wikipedia User Adam Moss from Kenmore, NY, United States | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 5,419
Median Income: $87,457
Unemployment Rate: 1.7%
Poverty Rate: 7.3%
More on Williamsville: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Williamsville is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Buffalo area. We’ll tell you the good about “Awesome Williamsville.”

Everyone here is rich; families average $87,457 a year, which is the 2nd highest in the Buffalo region. And only 1.67% are out of work. Homes average more than $198,800 each.

Hamburg, NY

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 9,722
Median Income: $82,645
Unemployment Rate: 2.2%
Poverty Rate: 5.1%
More on Hamburg: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Hamburg is the second best ‘burb we looked at near Buffalo for 2023.

It ranks 4th for incomes in the area and only 0.77% of residents lack insurance, good for best.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,095
Median Income: $88,286
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%
Poverty Rate: 2.8%
More on East Aurora: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Here in East Aurora, it’s really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you’ll see in the Buffalo metro area.

The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.

But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in East Aurora.

Kenmore, NY

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 15,207
Median Income: $72,946
Unemployment Rate: 5.4%
Poverty Rate: 8.3%
More on Kenmore: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Kenmore ranks as the 4th best suburb of Buffalo for 2023.

You won’t find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Kenmore and the schools are some of the best around.

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 3,100
Median Income: $87,237
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%
Poverty Rate: 8.7%
More on Orchard Park: Data | Real Estate

Coming in as the fifth best is Orchard Park.

Orchard Park gets kudos for having the 2nd most expensive homes in the Buffalo area, where houses sell for an average of $275,300. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.

Lancaster, NY

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 10,046
Median Income: $57,316
Unemployment Rate: 2.0%
Poverty Rate: 7.6%
More on Lancaster: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Lancaster is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here’s why.

Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 2.05% which is 2nd best in the area.

According to online reports, Lancaster is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Buffalo area, meaning you need to get in soon.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,606
Median Income: $64,023
Unemployment Rate: 5.3%
Poverty Rate: 5.5%
More on Alden: Data | Real Estate

The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Alden.

Alden schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.

And, it’s only 18.5 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,084
Median Income: $64,483
Unemployment Rate: 4.9%
Poverty Rate: 6.8%
More on Attica: Data | Real Estate

Attica is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.

A solid 2.21% of people lack insurance, good for 6th in the area.

Lewiston, NY

Source: Wikipedia User Florence88 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,555
Median Income: $61,359
Unemployment Rate: 3.8%
Poverty Rate: 5.4%
More on Lewiston: Data | Real Estate

Is ‘Everything Better In Lewiston?’

Almost.

It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it’s really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.

Depew, NY

Source: Wikipedia User Mitchazenia | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 15,188
Median Income: $65,292
Unemployment Rate: 5.4%
Poverty Rate: 8.8%
More on Depew: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

And rounding out the top ten for 2023 is Depew.

This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It’s far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.

Methodology: How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Buffalo for 2023

Figuring out the best suburbs around Buffalo was simple. We used Saturday Night Science to find things people like about living in the suburbs and then locate the suburbs with those things.

We analyzed the newest American Community Survey data for 2017-2021 to research each suburb. We decided upon the following criteria:

  • Low unemployment rate
  • High median household incomes
  • Population density (lots of things to do)
  • High home values
  • A lot of college-educated people
  • Low poverty
  • High rate of insured families

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 “best.

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

Finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index, the “Best Suburb near Buffalo.” We’re lookin’ at you, Williamsville.

This result may differ from our state-wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a more extensive selection of suburbs.

We updated the data for 2023. This report is our tenth time ranking the best Buffalo suburbs. Skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.

Summary: Welcome to the Best Buffalo ‘Burbs of 2023

We said it once, and we’ll say it again–life in the big city isn’t for everyone. At least not all the time.

So if you’re craving the amenities of a larger city like Buffalo but don’t want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might be for you.

For more New York reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Buffalo Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income
1 Williamsville, NY 5,419 $87,457
2 Hamburg, NY 9,722 $82,645
3 East Aurora, NY 6,095 $88,286
4 Kenmore, NY 15,207 $72,946
5 Orchard Park, NY 3,100 $87,237
6 Lancaster, NY 10,046 $57,316
7 Alden, NY 2,606 $64,023
8 Attica, NY 2,084 $64,483
9 Lewiston, NY 2,555 $61,359
10 Depew, NY 15,188 $65,292
11 North Tonawanda, NY 30,592 $61,926
12 Angola, NY 2,774 $64,957
13 Silver Creek, NY 2,617 $67,420
14 Springville, NY 4,218 $51,829
15 Sloan, NY 3,754 $62,409
16 Akron, NY 2,901 $42,581
17 Blasdell, NY 2,540 $55,000
18 Lockport, NY 20,876 $51,819
19 Lackawanna, NY 19,697 $43,824
20 Niagara Falls, NY 48,763 $43,336
21 Youngstown, NY 61,274 $31,020
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.