Buffalo’s neighborhoods conjure up too many stereotypes to count. You’ve got hipster areas, preppy places, neighborhoods where college kids thrive, and of course, ghettos.
It seems as if there’s a neighborhood for everyone in Buffalo.
And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in New York thanks in part to tons of entertainment and jobs, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine in Buffalo. Some neighborhoods aren’t as safe as others.
So the question arises, which Buffalo neighborhoods are the most dangerous and which are the safest?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Buffalo hoods need a little tender loving care. We examined 52 of Buffalo’s neighborhoods to find out the most dangerous places to live.
$23,804 median income
$24,532 median income
$23,868 median income
$32,992 median income
$27,957 median income
$28,346 median income
$29,420 median income
$27,932 median income
$24,229 median income
$28,852 median income
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is New York’s statewide median.
New York statewide median: $507,794
New York statewide median: $85,974
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most dangerous Buffalo neighborhoods in 2026
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 places have the least amount of those things. We plugged the following criteria into Saturday Night Science to get the worst neighborhoods in Buffalo:
- High crime (Estimated)
- High unemployment (Less jobs)
- Low median income (Less pay)
- Low population density (No things to do)
- Low home values (No one’s willing to pay to live here)
Then, we ranked each neighborhood in Buffalo, New York for each of these criteria from worst to best.
Next, we averaged the individual rankings for each criterion into a “Worst Score.”
The neighborhood with the lowest “Worst Score” ranks as the most dangerous neighborhood of Buffalo.
The article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. We updated this article for 2026. Skip to the end to see the list of all 52 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
The full plate
Most dangerous neighborhoods to live in Buffalo for 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Population | Home Value | Median Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emerson | 2,108 | $50,600 | $23,804 |
| 2 | Babcock | 3,029 | $47,550 | $24,532 |
| 3 | Broadway-Fillmore | 8,749 | $39,727 | $23,868 |
| 3 | Medical Park | 2,102 | $31,100 | $32,992 |
| 5 | Genesee Moselle | 3,764 | $40,050 | $27,957 |
| 6 | Squaw Island | 462 | $75,600 | $28,346 |
| 7 | Mlk Park | 2,942 | $61,480 | $29,420 |
| 8 | Valley | 685 | $44,050 | $27,932 |
| 9 | Masten Park | 2,465 | $65,150 | $24,229 |
| 10 | Schiller Park | 10,298 | $51,136 | $28,852 |
| 11 | Grider | 5,495 | $58,000 | $34,202 |
| 12 | Lovejoy | 6,127 | $57,822 | $32,108 |
| 13 | South Ellicott | 2,376 | $73,900 | $33,740 |
| 14 | Kingsley | 2,652 | $55,525 | $33,976 |
| 14 | First Ward | 1,201 | $51,100 | $28,750 |
| 16 | Military | 4,024 | $98,467 | $37,590 |
| 17 | Willert Park | 4,582 | $167,825 | $25,014 |
| 18 | Tifft | 1,045 | $57,600 | $38,752 |
| 19 | Emslie | 1,521 | $74,175 | $32,854 |
| 20 | Kenfield | 7,136 | $58,729 | $36,236 |
| 21 | Leroy | 5,169 | $110,557 | $36,770 |
| 22 | Lasalle | 9,088 | $91,614 | $42,032 |
| 23 | Black Rock | 6,883 | $127,562 | $40,531 |
| 23 | Cold Spring | 1,237 | $80,750 | $50,303 |
| 25 | Delaware Park | 1,741 | $227,840 | $63,047 |
| 27 | Triangle | 3,806 | $85,160 | $50,160 |
| 27 | Waterfront | 951 | $492,400 | $35,846 |
| 27 | Kaisertown | 5,454 | $73,667 | $44,263 |
| 29 | Allen | 3,045 | $257,525 | $41,923 |
| 30 | Riverside Park | 11,251 | $71,100 | $28,679 |
| 31 | Seneca | 2,907 | $84,680 | $39,029 |
| 32 | Lakeview | 4,139 | $195,367 | $26,270 |
| 33 | Park Meadow | 3,361 | $268,100 | $72,990 |
| 34 | Kensington | 11,649 | $74,338 | $44,136 |
| 35 | Columbus | 2,350 | $271,300 | $34,538 |
| 36 | Grant Ferry | 7,396 | $167,853 | $58,566 |
| 37 | Cazenovia Park | 5,098 | $93,060 | $40,789 |
| 37 | North Delaware | 2,232 | $158,943 | $44,597 |
| 39 | South Park | 5,836 | $116,900 | $61,144 |
| 40 | Bryant | 6,083 | $328,200 | $41,622 |
| 41 | University | 5,334 | $120,567 | $56,623 |
| 42 | Forest | 9,331 | $231,118 | $61,585 |
| 43 | Abbott McKinley | 7,076 | $118,271 | $68,309 |
| 44 | Front Park | 12,235 | $197,789 | $41,665 |
| 45 | Hamlin Park | 6,045 | $103,980 | $46,968 |
| 46 | Delaware-West Ferry | 6,397 | $325,714 | $60,893 |
| 47 | Parkside | 2,865 | $250,233 | $76,898 |
| 48 | Central Business District | 1,657 | $394,850 | $68,676 |
| 49 | Albright | 2,729 | $412,040 | $68,808 |
| 50 | Starin Central | 5,145 | $232,700 | $74,251 |
| 51 | North Park | 12,100 | $225,476 | $71,004 |
| 52 | South Abbott | 3,476 | $122,600 | $80,316 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. All 52 Buffalo neighborhoods.
Summary
Summary: The worst neighborhoods around Buffalo
Well, there you have it — the worst of the neighborhoods in Buffalo with Emerson landing at the bottom of the pack.
The worst neighborhoods in Buffalo are Emerson, Babcock, Broadway-Fillmore, Medical Park, Genesee Moselle, Squaw Island, Mlk Park, Valley, Masten Park, and Schiller Park.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Buffalo aren’t all bad. South Abbott takes the cake as the best place to live in Buffalo.
We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below. Not sold on New York? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Neighborhoods In Buffalo FAQs
What is the most dangerous neighborhood in Buffalo?
Emerson ranks as the worst neighborhood in Buffalo for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Babcock and Broadway-Fillmore are next on the list.
What are the worst neighborhoods in Buffalo?
The worst-ranked neighborhoods in Buffalo are Emerson, Babcock, Broadway-Fillmore, Medical Park, Genesee Moselle, Squaw Island, Mlk Park, Valley, Masten Park, and Schiller Park. We scored all 52 neighborhoods in the city.
Why does Emerson rank as the worst?
Emerson posts the roughest combined numbers in Buffalo: a median household income of $23,804 and a median home value of $50,600, with crime, unemployment, and density folded into the score.
Are these neighborhoods dangerous everywhere?
No. The scores are neighborhood-wide averages, and conditions change block by block and hour by hour. Plenty of people live in these neighborhoods without incident; the numbers just say the odds run tougher.
How do you rank the worst neighborhoods?
Each neighborhood is scored on crime, unemployment, income, density, and home values, using Census tract and FBI data. The worst combined score tops the list.
