Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 29,804 people, the town was settled in 1850.
A well-rated place to live, with prices to match. Its strongest is health (A): CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 93% of the country. With an A− overall, Orchard Park sits 189th of 745 in New York. On that grade it does better than just over three quarters of U.S. towns. The trade-off is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $361K, 5 years of the Buffalo metro’s $72K median household income. Only 53 of New York’s 1,216 towns score lower on history. The biggest place to walk is Chestnut Ridge Park, 1,010 acres with 11.4 miles of trail. The town has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Johnson-Jolls Complex.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places · OpenStreetMap.
Where Orchard Park beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Orchard Park is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,136 in 1860, 29,686 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper and 2 maps from 1950 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Orchard Park. Close and well known come first.
Big drawin town Stadium & arenaHighmark Stadium
Big draw28 mi WaterfallNiagara Falls
Big drawin town Stadium & arenaRalph Wilson Stadium
in town WaterfallEternal Flame Falls
11 mi Stadium & arenaKeyBank Center
11 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 Orchard Park, 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 Orchard Park.
Orchard Park gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns, has less food insecurity than most of New York and is safe by national standards but not by New York’s.
Its widest gap with New York is food insecurity: 7.1% of its 23,138 adults worry about having enough food, against 17.2% statewide.
In Orchard Park, 20% of adults have been diagnosed with depression. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Orchard Park is ahead of New York on 19 and behind on 2.
| Orchard Park | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 32% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 84% | 81% | 79% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.1% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Orchard Park | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.1% | 17.2% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.6% | 7.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.8% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A− for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $361K.
Two of its 9 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. Public schools: the Orchard Park Central School District. The 5 public schools in Orchard Park teach 2,648 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orchard Park Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,086 | C+ |
| Orchard Park High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,367 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
21 miles of trail wind through 8 parks and preserves. Orchard Park’s trail density is 0.6 miles per square mile.
| Orchard Park | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.2% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chestnut Ridge Park | 11.4 mi | 1,010 |
| 2. Birdsong | 2.3 mi | 69 |
| 3. Yates Park | 0.8 mi | 75 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Orchard Park after 6 declared disasters, most recently in 2022. On expected storm and flood damage, Orchard Park sits below 79% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 75% come from inland flooding and 15% from cold waves. 4 flood insurance claims have been paid locally since 1979.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Wales weather station, 8 miles away, records that 109 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 98% of U.S. towns. The Wales weather station, 8 miles away, records that about 1 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 97% of U.S. towns.
July afternoons reach 80° and January nights drop to 17°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Orchard Park has about as many jobs (14,866) as working residents, but only 1,932 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 21.5 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Commuting out is the norm in Orchard Park: 14% of working residents work locally. Its middle household income stands at $110,000, above both the New York town median ($82,000) and the median of U.S. towns ($80,000). 18% of workers work remotely from home here. Half the trips to work are shorter than 11 miles.
| Orchard Park | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 18% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $110,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 14.7 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 53% of New York’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 11 reported in 2025, 0.4 per 1,000 residents.
Orchard Park’s rate of thefts and burglaries stands at 14.7 per 1,000 residents. Its level of violent crime stands at 0.4 per 1,000 residents, against 0.8 in New York’s towns and 1.6 across U.S. towns.
| Orchard Park | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.4 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The share of renter households in Orchard Park who spend 30% or more of their income on rent: 49%. Orchard Park’s rent at the middle of the market comes in at $1,304 a month.
| Orchard Park | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,304 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 75% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
9 within 15 miles of the center of Orchard Park
About 3 of every 100 Orchard Park residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
2 places in Orchard Park on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New York, United States
Orchard Park is an incorporated town in Erie County, New York, United States. It is an outer ring suburb southeast of Buffalo. The population was 29,686 at the 2020 census. The town contains a village also named Orchard Park. Orchard Park is one of the Southtowns of Erie County and is best known as the site of Highmark Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Orchard Park.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orchard Park | #189 | A− | D | B | A− | A |
| Hamburg | #220 | B+ | C | B− | B | A |
| Aurora | #95 | A | C− | — | A− | A |
| Boston | #333 | B | C− | — | B+ | A |
| West Seneca | #358 | B− | C | C+ | B | A− |
Aurora and Boston report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Orchard Park with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. It grades A for health, B for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $361,000, 31% below the New York typical home.
2 notable people were born here, including Ben Holmes and Jim Burt.
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