Best PlacesWest Seneca, NY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Seneca, 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.
West Seneca ranks 826th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West Seneca
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.
West Seneca's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Seneca ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- School gradeB+, better than 86% of cities
Where West Seneca ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 16% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 20% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in West Seneca
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Seneca home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,106, 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 West Seneca's effective rate of 2.03%, 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 West Seneca
West Seneca 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 West Seneca.
Who works in West Seneca, and how
Work in West Seneca centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in West Seneca
West Seneca has more restaurants and bars per resident than 65% of cities and more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of West Seneca and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Seneca, month by month
West Seneca 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 West Seneca
The nearest airport, Buffalo Niagara International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 179 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Seneca
Schools across West Seneca average a B+, better than 86% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Eggert Road Elementary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Elma Primary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Clinton Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Orchard Park Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- East Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- West Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Orchard Park High SchoolA+ · 100% proficient
- West Seneca East Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- West Seneca West Senior High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Seneca school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Seneca 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 West Seneca against the other 2,097 cities.
Who West Seneca suits
Common questions about living in West Seneca
Is West Seneca a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Seneca ranks 826th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low disaster risk, health care access, and low crime, and lowest on internet speeds and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Seneca expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,807. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $86,106 median income, cost of living beats 56% of cities.
Is West Seneca safe?
Yes, West Seneca is safer than 88% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $216 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in West Seneca?
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 37% of cities.
Is West Seneca good for families?
Schools beat 86% of cities, crime safety beats 88%, and childcare runs $1,317 a month.
Compare West Seneca with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Seneca. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Seneca 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.
West Seneca detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Seneca: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Seneca: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Seneca: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Seneca: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Seneca 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.