Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Evans is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B+ overall, 265th of 745 graded towns in New York, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is safety: it reports less crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns. It also does better than most on schools: its schools outperform 60% of the state's. A typical home there costs about $176K, 2.4 years of the Buffalo metro’s $72K median household income. Evans has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them US Post Office-Angola and Graycliff. Evans’ median age is 49.5 years, above both New York’s towns (42.9 years) and U.S. towns (40.5 years). The biggest place to walk is Wendt Beach County Park, 165 acres with 1 miles of trail.
Where Evans beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,185 in 1830, 15,308 in 2020. The archive holds 13 old photos and papers going back to 1866 and a map from 1960 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Evans is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Evans. Close and well known come first.
Big draw30 mi WaterfallNiagara Falls
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaHighmark Stadium
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaRalph Wilson Stadium
17 mi Stadium & arenaKeyBank Center
13 mi WaterfallEternal Flame Falls
29 mi WaterfallHorseshoe FallsNiagara Falls: Robert F. Tobler, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Highmark Stadium: James161723, CC0 · Ralph Wilson Stadium: User Evilarry on en.wikipedia, Public domain · KeyBank Center: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Eternal Flame Falls: Mpmajewski, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Horseshoe Falls: Ujjwal Kumar, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Evans, 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 Evans.
Evans gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns, has homes that are cheap against local pay and is safe by national standards but not by New York’s.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 80% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 72 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Evans.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Evans-Brant Central School District. Three of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Boces, with 675 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| William G Houston Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 459 | D |
| Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BocesLargest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 675 | – |
| Lake Shore Senior High SchoolTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 665 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Jobs based here fell from 4,409 in 2013 to 3,454.
Most working residents leave Evans for work: only 13% work in town. The average trip to work in Evans is 29 minutes. Jobs based in Evans fell to 3,454 in 2023, 955 fewer than in 2013.
| Evans | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 8.8% | 12% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 10% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Buffalo weather station, 24 miles away, records that 95 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 97% of U.S. towns.
Evans has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Evans’ July high is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 13.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 51% of New York’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 10 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
| Evans | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.1% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wendt Beach County Park | 1 mi | 165 |
| 2. Evangola State Park | 0.1 mi | 129 |
| 3. Evans Town Park | 0.1 mi | 13 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Evans beats the New York average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 83% of Evans adults had a checkup this year.
| Evans | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 81% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Evans | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.5% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.4% | 17.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.4% | 6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 2.4 years of the Buffalo metro’s $72K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 77% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its B− for cost of living.
86% of households own their home in Evans.
| Evans | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 86% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $919 a month | $1,103 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Evans
About 4 of every 100 Evans residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Evans’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Evans on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New York, United States
Evans is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 16,356 at the 2010 census. The town derives its name from David E. Evans, an agent of the Holland Land Company and nephew of land agent Joseph Ellicott. The town is approximately 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Buffalo and is a rural community with 12 miles (19 km) of waterfront. The town is located close to the major trading centers of the Northeast and is a bi-national gateway for commerce due to the region's border location with Canada.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Evans.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evans | #265 | B+ | B− | B | B | B |
| Hamburg | #220 | B+ | C | B− | B | A |
| Lake Erie Beach | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Highland-on-the-Lake | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Angola on the Lake | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Eden | #117 | A | C | A | B+ | A− |
| Brant | — | — | B | — | B− | C+ |
Brant has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Brant reports no FBI crime data of its own. Lake Erie Beach, Highland-on-the-Lake and Angola on the Lake aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Evans with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Evans grades B+ overall, better than 67% of U.S. towns and #265 of 745 in New York. It grades B for health, B for safety and B for schools.
The typical home is worth about $177,000, 66% 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 B−.
2 notable people were born here, including Asa Ames and Alfred Gray.
