Best Places14226, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 14226, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
14226 ranks 1,955th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 14226
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.
14226's strengths and weaknesses
Where 14226 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 95% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 14226 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,317 a month, better than only 14% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 14226
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 14226 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $96,646, 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 14226's effective rate of 1.89%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 14226
14226's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 14226.
Who works in 14226, and how
Work in 14226 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 14226
14226 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of zip codes and more late-night spots per resident than 82% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 14226 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 14226, month by month
14226 sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 28° | 20° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 14226
The nearest airport, Buffalo Niagara International, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 186 miles away.
The best schools in and around 14226
Schools across 14226 average an A, better than 95% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Smallwood Drive SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Maplemere Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Windermere Blvd SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Amherst Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Cleveland Hill Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Sweet Home Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Amherst Central High SchoolA+ · 100% proficient
- Sweet Home Senior High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Cleveland Hill High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 14226 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
14226 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 14226 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 14226 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of zip codes and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 14226
Is 14226 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 14226 ranks 1,955th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, good schools, and population health, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 14226 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $271,558. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $96,646 median income, cost of living beats 83% of zip codes.
Is 14226 safe?
Yes, 14226 is safer than 63% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $312 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 14226?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 20. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 35% of zip codes.
Is 14226 good for families?
Schools beat 95% of zip codes, crime safety beats 63%, and childcare runs $1,317 a month.
Compare 14226 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 14226. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 14226 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.
14226 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 14226: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 14226: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 14226: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 14226: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
14226 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.