Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Settled in 1823, this town now has 10,262 residents.
On health it is strong (A−): CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of just over three quarters of the country. Alden’s overall grade, A−, puts it better than 77% of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 186th of 745 in New York. Homes run about $244K for a typical one, 3.4 times the Buffalo metro’s $72K median household income. Add incomes to its strengths: the median household earns $91K. Alden State Bank is on the National Register of Historic Places. Alden's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 82% of U.S. towns. 19% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in the town, against 32% in New York’s towns and 29% across U.S. towns.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Alden beats most towns.
Where Alden’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Alden is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,257 in 1830, 9,706 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1866 and 4 maps from 1905 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Alden. Close and well known come first.
Big draw30 mi WaterfallNiagara Falls
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaHighmark Stadium
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaRalph Wilson Stadium7 mi Theme parkSix Flags Darien Lake1.5M visitors a year
30 mi WaterfallHorseshoe Falls
18 mi Stadium & arenaKeyBank CenterNiagara Falls: Robert F. Tobler, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Highmark Stadium: James161723, CC0 · Ralph Wilson Stadium: User Evilarry on en.wikipedia, Public domain · Horseshoe Falls: Ujjwal Kumar, Public domain · KeyBank Center: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Alden, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Alden.
Alden draws workers from Buffalo and beyond, gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and has less food insecurity than most of New York.
8,342 jobs are based in Alden, 1.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 3,774 in 2013 to 8,342.
5% of residents live below the poverty line in Alden. Only 13% of working residents stay in Alden for work; the rest commute out. Since 2013, Alden has added 4,568 jobs, to 8,342 in 2023. Also worth knowing: the average commute in the town is 27 minutes.
| Alden | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 5% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $91,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The largest public high school is Alden Senior High School, with 488 students. The Alden Central School District runs its public schools. Two of its 5 schools are shown below, with the reason for each.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alden Intermediate SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 344 | B− |
| Alden Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 488 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Alden has had 11 paid flood insurance claims since 1978. Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 82% of U.S. communities. 63% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 24%. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid in 5 declared disasters, most recently in 2022.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its widest gap with New York is food insecurity: 10.8% of its 9,889 adults worry about having enough food, against 17.2% statewide.
For adults in Alden, the share who have obesity is 32%. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Alden is ahead of New York on 6 and behind on 4. Among adults here, 83% had a checkup this year and 30% feel lonely.
| Alden | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 81% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 21% | 23% |
| What stands out | Alden | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.8% | 17.2% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10% | 14.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.7% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Buffalo weather station, 11 miles away, records that 95 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 97% of U.S. towns.
Alden’s typical July afternoon high stands at 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
In Alden, the density of trails is 0.1 miles per square mile. 3.5 miles of trail.
| Alden | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.9% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
In Alden, 84% of households own their home. The town’s going rate for rent comes in at $947 a month.
| Alden | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 84% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $947 a month | $1,103 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Alden
About 1 of every 100 Alden residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
10,865 counted in 2010 and 9,706 in 2020; an estimated 10,262 in 2025.
The decline has turned around: up 5.6% since 2020, after a 10.7% drop in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
3 notable people were born in Alden.
Town in New York, United States
Alden is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 10,865 at the 2010 census. The town is derived from a family name known to early settlers. Alden is in the northeast part of Erie County, east of Buffalo. It contains a village also called Alden.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Alden.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alden | #186 | A− | C+ | — | B+ | A− |
| Marilla | #139 | A− | B− | — | A− | A |
| Newstead | #216 | B+ | B− | — | A− | B+ |
| Darien | #385 | B− | C+ | — | B+ | B+ |
| Lancaster | #89 | A | C | B+ | A− | A |
| Town Line | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bennington | #330 | B | B− | — | B | B+ |
Alden, Marilla, Newstead, Darien and Bennington report no FBI crime data of their own. Town Line isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Alden with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Alden grades A− overall, better than 77% of U.S. towns and #186 of 745 in New York. It grades A− for health and B+ for schools.
The typical home is worth about $244,000, 53% below the New York typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
3 notable people were born here, including Lyman K. Bass and Josephine Cushman Bateham.
