RapidsNY
A town of 1,655, settled in 1848.
Is Rapids a good place to live?
Of the 759 New York towns we compare, none has a lower share of working residents who work in town than Rapids. Rapids’ median household income is $122,000, against $82,000 in New York’s towns and $80,000 across U.S. towns. 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). 43% of Rapids adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more, where New York’s towns sit at 32% and U.S. towns at 29%.
| 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
With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Rapids’ workers commute out
Most working residents leave Rapids for work: only 0% work in town. Jobs based in Rapids grew to 119 in 2023, 39 more than in 2013. 5% of Rapids residents live below the poverty line.
| Rapids | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 5% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Inland flooding leads a high hazard risk in Rapids
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 78% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Rapids, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
Rapids has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Rapids is 81°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
How healthy Rapids is
Rapids beats the New York average on 14 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 29% of adults feel lonely in Rapids.
| 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
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.