Best Places14081, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 14081, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
14081 ranks 27,311th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Noise pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on good schools.
The best neighborhoods in 14081
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
14081's strengths and weaknesses
Where 14081 ranks high
- School gradeB+, better than 86% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 81% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 77% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 72% of zip codes
Where 14081 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 14081
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 14081 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,851, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 14081's effective rate of 1.21%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 14081
14081 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 14081.
Who works in 14081, and how
Work in 14081 centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in 14081
14081 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 14081 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 14081, month by month
14081 sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 29° | 22° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 66° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 14081
The nearest airport, Buffalo Niagara International, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 155 miles away.
The best schools in and around 14081
Schools across 14081 average a B+, better than 86% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Silver Creek Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- A J Schmidt Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- John T Waugh Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Silver Creek Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Gowanda Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- William G Houston Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Silver Creek High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Lake Shore Senior High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Gowanda High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 14081 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
14081 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 14081 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 14081
Is 14081 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 14081 ranks 27,311th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, heat safety, and low disaster risk, and lowest on noise and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 14081 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $136,283. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $62,851 median income, cost of living beats 8% of zip codes.
Is 14081 safe?
14081 is safer than 20% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $609 per resident a year.
Compare 14081 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 14081. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 14081 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
14081 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 14081: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 14081: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 14081: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 14081: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
14081 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.