Best PlacesUniversity at Buffalo, NY Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood in and around University at Buffalo, 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.

See the map of best neighborhoods

University at Buffalo ranks 2,984th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.

#2,984
of 50,333 towns
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 50,333 towns
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in University at Buffalo

Map of the best neighborhoods in the University at Buffalo area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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.

University at Buffalo's strengths and weaknesses

Top 1%Population health
Top 1%Cell coverage
Top 1%Heat safety
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare University at Buffalo with other towns.

Where University at Buffalo ranks high

  • Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
  • Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
  • Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
  • Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
  • BikingBetter than 99% of towns

Where University at Buffalo ranks low

  • Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
  • Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of towns
  • Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
  • QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
  • Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of towns

Who lives in University at Buffalo

University at Buffalo runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.

Median age
19
younger than the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
0%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.3
below the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1842%
18 to 3457%
35 to 490%
50 to 640%
65 and older0%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for University at Buffalo.


Who works in University at Buffalo, and how

Work in University at Buffalo centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.

Work from home
13%
about the national average
Unemployment
0.1%
below the national average
Job growth
+0.0%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Education35%
Retail trade20%
Hospitality & food19%
Health care & social9%
Arts & entertainment6%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 48%
  • Work from home 13%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 39%

Life in University at Buffalo

The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across University at Buffalo.

Living on campus
593
students living in college or university housing

What the weather is like in University at Buffalo, month by month

University at Buffalo 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.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January36°28°20°
April58°46°36°
July84°74°63°
October65°54°45°

Flying in and out of University at Buffalo

The nearest airport, Buffalo Niagara International, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 188 miles away.

Nearest airport
BUF
Buffalo Niagara International, about 5 miles
Airport size
Small hub
63rd-busiest in the US, 61 nonstop destinations
Average drive
8 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around University at Buffalo

Schools across University at Buffalo average a B+, better than 88% of towns.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every University at Buffalo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


University at Buffalo 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 University at Buffalo against the other 50,332 towns.


Common questions about living in University at Buffalo

Is University at Buffalo a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, University at Buffalo ranks 2,984th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, cell coverage, and heat safety, and lowest on civic engagement and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is University at Buffalo safe?

Yes, University at Buffalo is safer than 87% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $193 per resident a year.

What is the weather like in University at Buffalo?

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 36% of towns.


Compare University at Buffalo with other towns


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to University at Buffalo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in University at Buffalo 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.

University at Buffalo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for University at Buffalo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in University at Buffalo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of University at Buffalo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in University at Buffalo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

University at Buffalo detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  5. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  6. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  7. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  8. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  9. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  10. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  11. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.