RapidsNY
A town of 1,655, settled in 1848.
Is Rapids a good place to live?
We don’t grade Rapids yet; the figures below are still real.
100% of working residents leave Rapids for work
Where Rapids’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Niagara Falls and 42 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rapids. Close and well known come first.
Big draw22 mi WaterfallNiagara Falls
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaHighmark Stadium
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaRalph Wilson Stadium
22 mi WaterfallHorseshoe Falls
19 mi Stadium & arenaKeyBank Center
19 mi MuseumUSS The SullivansPhoto credits
Niagara 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
_underway_at_sea_on_29_October_1962_(USN_1063617).jpg){kind=link}
Moving to Rapids: who provides what
Rapids is unincorporated, so Niagara County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Rapids.
Fewer young adults than New York overall
Adults 18 to 34 are 9% of residents (23% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 48% of residents (39% statewide). Among adults 25 and older in Rapids, 43% hold a bachelor’s degree or more, where New York’s towns sit at 32% and U.S. towns at 29%. The share of residents in Rapids who are 65 or older: 18%.
| Rapids | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 43% | 32% | 29% |
| Median age | 44 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 18% | 20% | 18% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±9.8 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Rapids | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.4% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 16.7% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.2% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 4.5% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.3% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 25.4% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 6.8% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.8% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.9% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.4% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 25.5% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.2% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.4% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 30.2% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.4% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,700, single groups can be off by several points
A smaller share of working residents in Rapids work locally than in the typical New York or U.S. town
Among residents in Rapids, 5% live below the poverty line, below both New York’s towns (9.5%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Jobs in Rapids grew by 39 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 119. Rapids’ typical household income comes in at $122,000. The top destinations are Amherst (16%), Buffalo (13%) and Lockport (10%).
| Rapids | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $122,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.1% | 10% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 5% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Natural hazards: high risk in Rapids, mostly inland flooding
On expected storm and flood damage, Rapids sits above 78% of U.S. communities. FEMA puts 90% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Rapids has snowy winters and pleasant summers
In July, afternoons reach 81°; in January, nights fall to 18°, and about 95 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
How healthy Rapids is
Rapids: 29% of adults feel lonely. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Rapids is ahead of New York on 14 and behind on 3. In Rapids, 19% of adults binge drink, and 8.6% have diabetes.
| Rapids | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8.6% | 11% | 12% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 19% |
| What stands out | Rapids | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.5% | 12.8% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.2% | 7.9% |
| More adults with obesity | 37.3% | 28.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
A home in Rapids sells for about $531K at the median
90% of households live in a home they own in Rapids.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Rapids
Colleges nearby
4 within 15 miles of the center of Rapids
About 1 of every 100 Rapids residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
About Rapids
Census-designated place in New York, United States
Rapids is a hamlet (also a census-designated place) located in the Town of Lockport in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, Rapids had a population of 1,584. The ZIP code for Rapids is 14094. Rapids is located on the south edge of both the town and the county so that a small part of the community is in the Town of Clarence in Erie County. The hamlet lies at the junction of Tonawanda Creek Road, Rapids Road, and Goodrich Road. The community consists of a fire hall, a church, a few businesses, and many residences, primarily in Niagara County. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.6 sq mi
- Elevation
- 591 ft
Rapids’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with Rapids.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rapids | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Lockport | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Clarence | #116 | A | C− | — | A | A |
| Royalton | #185 | A− | B+ | — | B | B |
Clarence and Royalton report no FBI crime data of their own. Rapids and Lockport aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Rapids with a neighbor →
Questions about Rapids
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Rapids, NY a good place to live?
We don’t grade Rapids yet; the figures below are still real.