Best PlacesTonawanda, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Tonawanda, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Tonawanda ranks 800th of 2,098 U.S. cities 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 Tonawanda
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.
The best areas in Tonawanda
The parts of Tonawanda, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Belmont & Kenmore NE
Parkview
Thomas Edison School Area, Paramount & Cardinal O'Hara
Marvin Gardens
Kenilworth & Lincoln Park-Buffalo
Kenmore NW
Tonawanda shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 12% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Tonawanda's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tonawanda ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- BikingBetter than 90% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 87% of cities
Where Tonawanda ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 19% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 25% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Tonawanda
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tonawanda home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,028, 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 Tonawanda's effective rate of 1.93%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Tonawanda
Tonawanda 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 Tonawanda.
Who works in Tonawanda, and how
Work in Tonawanda centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Tonawanda
Tonawanda has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of cities and more parkland per resident than 95% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Tonawanda and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Tonawanda, month by month
Tonawanda sees roughly 76 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 Tonawanda
The nearest airport, Buffalo Niagara International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 187 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tonawanda
Schools across Tonawanda average a B, better than 75% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Kaegebein SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Huth Road SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Thomas A Edison Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Veronica E Connor Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Ben Franklin Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
- Sweet Home Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Grand Island Senior High SchoolA+ · 96% proficient
- Sweet Home Senior High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Kenmore East Senior High SchoolA · 79% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tonawanda school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tonawanda 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 Tonawanda against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Tonawanda suits
Common questions about living in Tonawanda
Is Tonawanda a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tonawanda ranks 800th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low disaster risk, biking, and health care access, and lowest on property taxes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tonawanda expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $208,436. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $76,028 median income, cost of living beats 43% of cities.
Is Tonawanda safe?
Yes, Tonawanda is safer than 74% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $258 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Tonawanda?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 20. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 38% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Tonawanda?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Belmont & Kenmore NE, Parkview, and Thomas Edison School Area, Paramount & Cardinal O'Hara. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Tonawanda with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tonawanda. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tonawanda 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.
Tonawanda detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tonawanda: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tonawanda: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tonawanda: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tonawanda: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tonawanda 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.