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 places are a little too far downwind of Buffalo in terms of quality of life.
$34,408 median income · $70,004 median home price
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.
$49,101 median income · $166,405 median home price
Located in
Niagara County, New York
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 $49,101 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.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$63,854 median income · $185,229 median home price
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Buffalo suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Silver Creek 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.
$52,110 median income · $168,586 median home price
Located in
Erie County, New York
If you live in Lackawanna, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 4th lowest Buffalo suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 5th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Buffalo. Remember, we looked at 21 cities for this study.
Lackawanna is about 5.3 miles to downtown.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$69,856 median income · $203,932 median home price
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 7th lowest home values in the metro Buffalo area, where the median price is $203,932. The median income is $112,292.
Blasdell has an unemployment rate of 11.1% which ranks 2nd worst.
$44,935 median income · $309,193 median home price
Akron has 2,897 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 6.9%.
$62,410 median income · $257,725 median home price
Located in
Niagara County, New York
Ah, Lockport. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Buffalo.
It’s the place with the 10th most out of work residents in the Buffalo metro area (4.8%).
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$62,340 median income · $188,596 median home price
Attica is a city about 29.4 miles from Buffalo, but Buffalo probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Attica has the 15th most uninsured people, 5th worst incomes, and has the 14th highest unemployment rate (3.5%) in the entire Buffalo metro area.
Homes only cost $188,596 for a reason. That’s cheap for Buffalo standards.
$71,996 median income · $249,477 median home price
If you absolutely have to live near Buffalo, then Springville might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Buffalo suburb.
About 3.4% of residents are out of work.
Data | Movers
$70,541 median income · $255,814 median home price
Rounding out the ten worst Buffalo suburbs to call home is Alden.
Located 18.5 miles outside the city, Alden is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 9th highest unemployment rate (5.7%), and poverty is far above the area average.
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: $85,974
New York statewide median: $507,794
New York statewide median: 6.4%
New York statewide median: 14.0%
On the map
Where the worst Buffalo suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Buffalo for 2026
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 2020-2024, 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 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around Buffalo.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst Buffalo Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Youngstown | 1.71 | 59,331 | $34,408 | $70,004 |
| 2 | Niagara Falls | 5.07 | 47,987 | $49,101 | $166,405 |
| 3 | Silver Creek | 5.21 | 2,604 | $63,854 | $185,229 |
| 4 | Lackawanna | 5.29 | 19,753 | $52,110 | $168,586 |
| 5 | Blasdell | 6.79 | 2,549 | $69,856 | $203,932 |
| 6 | Akron | 7.71 | 2,897 | $44,935 | $309,193 |
| 7 | Lockport | 8.00 | 20,610 | $62,410 | $257,725 |
| 8 | Attica | 9.43 | 2,028 | $62,340 | $188,596 |
| 9 | Springville | 9.86 | 4,190 | $71,996 | $249,477 |
| 10 | Alden | 10.36 | 2,633 | $70,541 | $255,814 |
| 11 | Sloan | 12.21 | 3,751 | $72,214 | $176,015 |
| 12 | Orchard Park | 12.43 | 3,072 | $99,904 | $478,558 |
| 13 | North Tonawanda | 12.57 | 30,198 | $66,961 | $273,946 |
| 14 | Depew | 12.79 | 15,000 | $73,556 | $260,965 |
| 15 | Angola | 13.00 | 2,411 | $81,108 | $217,195 |
| 16 | Lancaster | 14.43 | 10,113 | $66,148 | $242,275 |
| 17 | Kenmore | 14.79 | 15,044 | $77,639 | $249,943 |
| 18 | Lewiston | 15.00 | 2,588 | $73,821 | $339,135 |
| 19 | East Aurora | 16.86 | 5,993 | $103,949 | $431,047 |
| 20 | Hamburg | 18.36 | 9,792 | $112,292 | $297,871 |
| 21 | Williamsville | 19.14 | 5,469 | $98,850 | $410,876 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 21 suburbs within 30 miles of Buffalo.
Summary
Summary: The areas around Buffalo where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
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 Youngstown, Niagara Falls, Silver Creek, Lackawanna, Blasdell, Akron, Lockport, Attica, Springville, and Alden.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Buffalo aren’t all bad. Williamsville takes the cake as the best place to live around Buffalo. Not sold on New York? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Suburbs Of Buffalo FAQs
What is the worst suburb of Buffalo?
Youngstown ranks as the worst suburb around Buffalo for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Niagara Falls and Silver Creek are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of Buffalo?
The worst-ranked suburbs around Buffalo are Youngstown, Niagara Falls, Silver Creek, Lackawanna, Blasdell, Akron, Lockport, Attica, Springville, and Alden. We scored all 21 places within 30 miles.
Why does Youngstown rank as the worst suburb?
Youngstown posts the roughest combined numbers of the 21 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $34,408, a median home value of $70,004, and a poverty rate of 37.3%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near Buffalo?
Williamsville lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near Buffalo by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of Buffalo list covers that side properly.
How do you rank the worst suburbs?
Suburbs are scored on unemployment, income, density, home values, dropouts, poverty, and insurance coverage, using Census American Community Survey data. Real numbers, light heart — every one of these towns has people making it work.
