Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Amherst is a city of 130,442, and it grades B+ overall, ranked 270th of 745 in New York. Residents are healthier than 93% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and its public schools beat 82% of New York towns on state tests and graduation. The trade-off: homes are expensive, about $312K for a typical one and 4.3 times the Buffalo metro’s $72K median household income. 30% of working residents work locally in Amherst, against 10% in New York’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Amherst has 14 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Williamsville Water Mill Complex and Williamsville Christian Church. Amherst is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 85% of U.S. towns.
Where Amherst beats most towns.
Census counts: 768 in 1820, 129,595 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1866 and 5 maps from 1894 on.
14 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Amherst is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Amherst. Close and well known come first.
Big draw17 mi WaterfallNiagara Falls
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaHighmark Stadium
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaRalph Wilson Stadium
17 mi WaterfallHorseshoe Falls
11 mi Stadium & arenaKeyBank Center
11 mi MuseumUSS The SullivansNiagara 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 · USS The Sullivans: Unknown, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Amherst, 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 Amherst.
Amherst draws workers from Buffalo and beyond, gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and has less no health insurance than most of New York.
48 miles of trail in 33 parks and preserves. The trail density in Amherst is 0.9 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Nature View Park, 1,425 acres with 9.3 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Nature View Park | 9.3 mi | 1,425 |
| 2. Dann Lake Park | 3 mi | 126 |
| 3. Amherst State Park | 2.5 mi | 81 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A− for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $312K.
Its public schools are run by the Williamsville Central School District. Three of its 32 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transit Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 912 | B |
| Williamsville North High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,307 | A+ |
| Williamsville East High SchoolTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 940 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
90,313 jobs are based in Amherst, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 20 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
About one in 3 of Amherst’s working residents works in town. Amherst’s average trip to work is 20 minutes. Jobs based in Amherst fell to 90,313 in 2023, 7,677 fewer than in 2013.
| Amherst | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 16% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $93,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its widest gap with New York is no health insurance: 4.3% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 7.9% statewide.
8.8% of adults smoke cigarettes in Amherst. Amherst beats the New York average on 17 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 11% of adults report frequent physical distress in Amherst.
| Amherst | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.8% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 33% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 34% | 35% |
| What stands out | Amherst | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.3% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.6% | 17.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.1% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Buffalo weather station records that 95 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 97% of U.S. towns.
Amherst has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81° and January nights drop to 18°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 61% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 263 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Amherst.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
10 within 15 miles of the center of Amherst
About 13 of every 100 Amherst residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
2 colleges in town.
14 places in Amherst on the National Register of Historic Places.
13 notable people were born in Amherst.
Town in New York, United States
Amherst ( ) is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. It is a suburb of Buffalo. As of 2020, the town had a total population of 129,595. This represents an increase from 122,366 as reported in the 2010 census. It is the 14th most populated municipality in New York. The second-largest in area and the most populous suburb of Buffalo, the town of Amherst encompasses the village of Williamsville as well as the hamlets of Eggertsville, Getzville, Snyder, Swormville, and East Amherst. The town is in the northern part of Erie County and borders a section of the Erie Canal. Amherst is home to the north campus of the University at Buffalo, a campus of Erie Community College, a satellite cam…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Amherst.
It grades higher overall than all 5 graded towns on its borders; Tonawanda (B) comes closest. Tonawanda next door grades lower for schools (C+ to Amherst’s A−) and higher for cost of living (C+ to D).
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amherst | #270 | B+ | D | C | A− | A |
| Pendleton | #425 | B− | C | — | A− | B |
| Cheektowaga | #631 | C− | C+ | D | D | B |
| Eggertsville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Buffalo | #722 | D− | B | D− | D | C− |
| North Tonawanda | #427 | B− | C+ | B | B− | B |
| Tonawanda Town | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tonawanda | #321 | B | C+ | — | C+ | A− |
Pendleton and Tonawanda report no FBI crime data of their own. Eggertsville and Tonawanda Town aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Amherst with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Amherst grades B+ overall, better than 67% of U.S. towns and #270 of 745 in New York. It grades A for health, C for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $312,000, 41% below the New York typical home.
13 notable people were born here, including Rob Gronkowski and Anita Alvarez.
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