Is Lackawanna a good place to live?
Lackawanna grades D overall, 715th of 745 graded towns in New York, mostly because of schools and health. Its public schools trail 92% of New York towns on state tests and graduation. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 83% of the country. In its favor, it is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns. 23% of residents live below the poverty line in Lackawanna, above both the New York town median (9.5%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). On hazard risk, just 55 of New York’s 1,216 towns do worse. Lackawanna's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 87% of U.S. towns.
What makes Lackawanna stand out
Where Lackawanna beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Martin Road Elementary School | 2–5 | 573 |
| Truman Elementary School | PK–2 | 404 |
| Our Lady of Victory School | PK–8 | 107 |
Lackawanna has grown 7% since 2010
18,141 counted in 2010 and 19,949 in 2020; an estimated 19,452 in 2025.
Since 2020 the trend has turned: down 2.4%, after 10% growth in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
How Lackawanna grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Lackawanna is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Highmark Stadium and 44 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lackawanna. Close and well known come first.
Big draw4 mi Stadium & arenaHighmark Stadium
Big draw22 mi WaterfallNiagara Falls
Big draw4 mi Stadium & arenaRalph Wilson Stadium
5 mi Stadium & arenaKeyBank Center
5 mi MuseumUSS The Sullivans
5 mi Stadium & arenaSahlen FieldPhoto credits
Highmark Stadium: James161723, CC0 · Niagara Falls: Robert F. Tobler, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ralph Wilson Stadium: User Evilarry on en.wikipedia, Public domain · KeyBank Center: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0 · USS The Sullivans: Unknown, Public domain · Sahlen Field: Quintinsoloviev, CC BY-SA 4.0
_underway_at_sea_on_29_October_1962_(USN_1063617).jpg){kind=link}
Moving to Lackawanna: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lackawanna, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Lackawanna.
Lackawanna gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New York (mostly inland flooding).
Lackawanna has set aside 1.8% of its land for conservation
5.4 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The trail density in Lackawanna is 0.8 miles per square mile.
| Lackawanna | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.8% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jeffery A Taggart Memorial Park | — | 5 |
| 2. Ridgewood Village Park | — | 4 |
| 3. South Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
For schools, Lackawanna earns a D
Its public schools are run by the Lackawanna City School District. Two of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Global Concepts Charter School, with 878 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Road Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 2–5 | Grades 2–5 | 573 | D |
| Global Concepts Charter SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 878 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Lackawanna stands out in New York and nationally: a larger share of its adults smoke cigarettes
Against the 6,502 U.S. towns with household incomes like Lackawanna’s, it is less healthy than 63%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
18% of Lackawanna adults smoke cigarettes. Lackawanna beats the New York average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 21. 41% of Lackawanna adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Lackawanna | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 25% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Lackawanna | NY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.9% | 6% |
| More smokers | 18.4% | 11.3% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 20.3% | 12.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most of Lackawanna’s workers commute out: the town has 0.7 jobs for each of them
Jobs based here fell from 8,697 in 2013 to 5,086. The average commute for its 7,383 working residents takes 20 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Most working residents leave Lackawanna for work: only 10% work in town. Lackawanna’s average trip to work is 20 minutes. Since 2013, Lackawanna has lost 3,611 jobs, to 5,086 in 2023.
| Lackawanna | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $52,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.8% | 12% | 11% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Inland flooding leads a high hazard risk in Lackawanna
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 95% of New York towns, with expected losses of about $385 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Snowy winters and pleasant summers in Lackawanna
The Buffalo weather station, 10 miles away, records that 95 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 97% of U.S. towns.
Lackawanna has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 80° and January nights drop to 19°.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The median home in Lackawanna sells for about $180K
At 1.9 years of the Buffalo metro’s $72K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 92% of New York towns; that ratio is one input to its B− for cost of living.
56% of households own their home in Lackawanna.
| Lackawanna | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $872 a month | $1,103 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Lackawanna
Colleges nearby
10 within 15 miles of the center of Lackawanna
About 5 of every 100 Lackawanna residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
90% of working residents leave Lackawanna for work
Where Lackawanna’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Famous people from Lackawanna
15 notable people were born in Lackawanna.
About Lackawanna
City in New York, United States
Lackawanna is a city in Erie County, New York, United States, just south of the city of Buffalo in western New York State. The population was 19,949 at the 2020 census. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in New York, growing in population by 10% from 2010 to 2020. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The city of Lackawanna is in the western part of Erie County. The town's name derives from the Lackawanna Steel Company, which owned the steel plant around which the city developed. During the early 20th century, the Lackawanna steel plant was the largest in the world. The word "Lackawanna" refers to the steel company's original location in the Lackawanna River Valley…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 6.6 sq mi
- Elevation
- 623 ft
- Area code
- 716
Lackawanna’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Lackawanna.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lackawanna | #715 | D | B− | C | D | C− |
| Buffalo | #722 | D− | B | D− | D | C− |
| West Seneca | #358 | B− | C | C+ | B | A− |
| Hamburg | #220 | B+ | C | B− | B | A |
| Blasdell | #369 | B− | B− | C+ | B | B |
Questions about Lackawanna
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Lackawanna, NY a good place to live?
Lackawanna grades D overall, better than 6% of U.S. towns and #715 of 745 in New York. It grades C− for health, C for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Lackawanna, NY expensive?
The typical home is worth about $141,000, 73% 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−.
What is Lackawanna, NY known for?
Lackawanna has 1 place on the National Register of Historic Places. 15 notable people were born here, including Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Lonnie Smith.