Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
60,768 people live in this city, settled in 1812.
A strong record with one exception. Its strongest is health (A): CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 86% of the country. What holds it back is cost of living (C): the typical home is worth about $251K, 3.5 years of the Buffalo metro’s $72K median household income. The overall grade lands at B+, better than 72% of U.S. towns. That places it 220th of 745 in New York. Hamburg is home to Hilbert College. The city has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Hamburg Main Street Historic District. Nearly a fifth of working residents work locally here, against 10% in New York’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places · Census LEHD, 2023.
Where Hamburg beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Hamburg is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,034 in 1820, a low of 2,034 in 1820, 60,085 in 2020. The archive holds 13 old photos and papers going back to 1864 and 3 maps from 1905 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hamburg. Close and well known come first.
Big draw4 mi Stadium & arenaHighmark Stadium
Big draw26 mi WaterfallNiagara Falls
Big draw4 mi Stadium & arenaRalph Wilson Stadium
6 mi WaterfallEternal Flame Falls
9 mi Stadium & arenaKeyBank Center
10 mi MuseumUSS The SullivansHighmark Stadium: James161723, CC0 · Niagara Falls: Robert F. Tobler, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ralph Wilson Stadium: User Evilarry on en.wikipedia, Public domain · Eternal Flame Falls: Mpmajewski, CC BY-SA 3.0 · KeyBank Center: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0 · USS The Sullivans: Unknown, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hamburg, 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 Hamburg.
Hamburg gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and has less food insecurity than most of New York, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Its widest gap with New York is food insecurity: 9.2% of its 26,076 adults worry about having enough food, against 17.2% statewide.
Among adults in Hamburg, 19% binge drink and 83% had a checkup this year. The town beats the New York average on 12 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. Also worth knowing: for adults in the town, the share who feel lonely is 29%.
| Hamburg | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 81% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 19% |
| What stands out | Hamburg | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.2% | 17.2% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.4% | 7.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.9% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Below: Three of its 14 schools, each with why it was picked. Public schools: the Frontier Central School District. The 6 public schools in Hamburg teach 3,160 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,067 | C |
| Frontier Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,293 | A+ |
| Hamburg High SchoolTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 979 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
There are 19 miles of trail across 36 parks and preserves. Eighteen Mile Creek County Park, at 388 acres with 4.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Parks and preserves in Hamburg: 36, covering 1,019 acres.
| Hamburg | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5.8% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Eighteen Mile Creek County Park | 4.5 mi | 388 |
| 2. Anna Mae Bacon Bird Sanctuary | 0.6 mi | 9 |
| 3. Woodlawn Beach State Park | 0.4 mi | 59 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The average commute for its 28,774 working residents takes 23 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
The top destinations are Buffalo (24%), Amherst (9%) and Orchard Park (6%). The town’s typical journey to work comes in at 23 minutes. Half of commuters travel less than 11 miles.
| Hamburg | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 19% | 10% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.1% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 13% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
173 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 34 properties have flooded more than once.
Of the losses FEMA expects in Hamburg, 76% come from inland flooding and 14% from cold waves. On expected storm and flood damage, Hamburg sits below 69% of U.S. communities. Flood insurance has paid out on 173 claims in the town since 1978.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Buffalo weather station, 16 miles away, records that 95 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 97% of U.S. towns.
Hamburg’s typical July afternoon high stands at 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
New York has two in five adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more; here it is 39%. Among residents in Hamburg, 22% are 65 or older. In addition, in Hamburg, the age of the median resident is 45.6 years.
| Hamburg | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 45.6 years | 42.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 39% | 32% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 19% | 20% | 22% |
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.2 points). Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women. Median age: women 47.0, men 44.1.
| Hamburg | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.4% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.9% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.9% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.6% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.6% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.3% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.1% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.8% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.5% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.3% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 22.5% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.6% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 16.4% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.7% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.4% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Reported crimes fell from 917 to 791 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The level of property crime for Hamburg comes to 15.8 per 1,000 residents. The rate of reported violence for Hamburg comes to 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Hamburg | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 15.8 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Two fifths of Hamburg renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent. On the market locally: a median 12 days to sell.
| Hamburg | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 40% | 49% | 48% |
| Households that own their home | 75% | 75% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
8 within 15 miles of the center of Hamburg
About 6 of every 100 Hamburg residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New York.
19 notable people were born in Hamburg.
Town in New York, United States
Hamburg is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 60,085. It is named after the city of Hamburg, Germany. The town is on the western border of the county and is south of Buffalo. Hamburg is one of the Southtowns in Erie County. The villages of Hamburg and Blasdell are in the town, as is the census-designated place of Wanakah. The town of Hamburg was founded in 1812 in Armor.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Hamburg.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamburg | #220 | B+ | C | B− | B | A |
| Evans | #265 | B+ | B− | B | B | B |
| Wanakah | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Orchard Park | #189 | A− | D | B | A− | A |
| Highland-on-the-Lake | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Eden | #117 | A | C | A | B+ | A− |
| Lackawanna | #715 | D | B− | C | D | C− |
| Boston | #333 | B | C− | — | B+ | A |
Boston reports no FBI crime data of its own. Wanakah and Highland-on-the-Lake aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Hamburg with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Hamburg grades B+ overall, better than 72% of U.S. towns and #220 of 745 in New York. It grades A for health, B− for safety and B for schools.
The typical home is worth about $251,000, 52% below the New York typical home.
19 notable people were born here, including E. Howard Hunt and Nina G. Jablonski.
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