Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 70,853: a city in New York.
One weak subject stands out against an otherwise good record. Taken together, its subjects give Tonawanda a B overall, better than nearly three fifths of U.S. towns. Its place in the ranking is 321st of 745 in New York. Where it does best is walkability: it is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns. It is strong on health as well (A−) — it is healthier than just over three quarters of U.S. towns. Homes run about $214K for a typical one, 3 times the Buffalo metro’s $72K median household income. What counts against it is schools: its schools rank behind 65% of the state's. The city has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Eberhardt Mansion and Tonawanda Municipal Building.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Tonawanda beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Tonawanda is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,812 in 1870, a peak of 21,898 in 1970, 15,129 in 2020. The archive holds 3 maps from 1894 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Tonawanda. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi WaterfallNiagara Falls
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaHighmark Stadium
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaRalph Wilson Stadium
12 mi WaterfallHorseshoe Falls
8 mi Stadium & arenaKeyBank Center
7 mi MuseumUSS The SullivansNiagara 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
Who provides power, water and the rest in Tonawanda, 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 Tonawanda.
Tonawanda gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and trades workers with Buffalo and other neighbors.
Among adults in Tonawanda, 32% have obesity. This New York town beats the New York average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 30% of adults feel lonely in the town, against 32% in New York’s towns and 33% across U.S. towns.
| Tonawanda | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 81% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 35% |
| What stands out | Tonawanda | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.1% | 17.2% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.6% | 7.9% |
| More adults with depression | 21.3% | 17.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Two of its 17 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. The Kenmore-Tonawanda Union Free School District runs its public schools. The 6 public schools in Tonawanda teach 2,852 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Herbert Hoover Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–7 | Grades 5–7 | 772 | C− |
| Charter School for Applied TechnologiesLargest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 2,260 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
The biggest park or preserve is Brighton Park, at 202 acres. There are 5.8 miles of trail across 14 parks and preserves. The concentration of trails for Tonawanda comes to 0.3 miles per square mile, close to both New York’s towns (0.4) and U.S. towns (0.4).
| Tonawanda | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.9% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Isle View Park | 1.1 mi | 19 |
| 2. Brighton Park | 0.6 mi | 202 |
| 3. Mang Park | 0.5 mi | 13 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Buffalo weather station, 7 miles away, records that 95 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 97% of U.S. towns.
Tonawanda’s July high stands at 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Tonawanda has about as many jobs (28,724) as working residents, but only 5,084 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 20.6 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Half the trips to work are shorter than 6 miles. In Tonawanda, the typical journey to work is 21 minutes. Most people who work leave Tonawanda to do it: just 15% work in town. The top destinations are Buffalo (27%), Amherst (20%) and Cheektowaga (6%).
| Tonawanda | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 10% | 8% |
| Work from home | 14% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Tonawanda's reported crime rate is close to New York's. Its property offense rate stands at 18.2 per 1,000 residents. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 75 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
| Tonawanda | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 18.2 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Flood insurance has paid out on 27 claims in Tonawanda since 1978. On expected storm and flood damage, Tonawanda sits below 60% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 66% come from inland flooding and 23% from cold waves. Federal aid has come to Tonawanda households in 6 declared disasters; the latest was in 2022.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate puts Tonawanda at 70,853 residents, down 2.5% since 2020. Every broad age group is within 4 points of the New York average. 41% of Tonawanda adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| Tonawanda | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 41% | 32% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 18% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 41.6 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.1 points). Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women. Median age: women 42.4, men 40.6.
| Tonawanda | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.3% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.4% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.3% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.2% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.3% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.9% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.5% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.3% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.7% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.3% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 21.7% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.3% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.6% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.6% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.6% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
A home in Tonawanda typically sold within 10 days of listing. In Tonawanda, 78% of sales closed above the list price. The share of households in Tonawanda who are owner-occupiers: 72%.
| Tonawanda | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 72% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,098 a month | $1,103 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
11 within 15 miles of the center of Tonawanda
About 4 of every 100 Tonawanda residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
4 places in Tonawanda on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Tonawanda.
City in New York, United States
Tonawanda is a city in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 15,129 at the 2020 census. It is at the northern edge of Erie County, south across the Erie Canal (Tonawanda Creek) from North Tonawanda, east of Grand Island, and north of Buffalo. It is part of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Tonawanda.
Amherst next door grades higher for schools (A− to Tonawanda’s C+) and lower for cost of living (D to C+).
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonawanda | #321 | B | C+ | — | C+ | A− |
| Tonawanda Town | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tonawanda | #420 | B− | B− | B− | B− | B |
| Grand Island | #152 | A− | C− | — | A− | A |
| North Tonawanda | #427 | B− | C+ | B | B− | B |
| Amherst | #270 | B+ | D | C | A− | A |
| Buffalo | #722 | D− | B | D− | D | C− |
| Grandyle Village | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Tonawanda and Grand Island report no FBI crime data of their own. Tonawanda Town and Grandyle Village aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Tonawanda with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Tonawanda grades B overall, better than 59% of U.S. towns and #321 of 745 in New York. It grades A− for health and C+ for schools.
The typical home is worth about $214,000, 59% 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 C+.
10 notable people were born here, including Bobby Shuttleworth and Thomas Perry.
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