Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Wilson's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades B, 344th of 745 graded towns in New York. It also does better than most on health: residents are healthier than 63% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. A typical home there costs about $276K, 3.8 years of the Buffalo metro’s $72K median household income. Morse Cobblestone Farmhouse is on the National Register of Historic Places. 90% of households own their home in Wilson, where New York’s towns sit at 75% and U.S. towns at 73%. Wilson-Tuscarora State Park, at 478 acres with 7.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Wilson beats most towns.
Where Wilson’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Wilson is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 688 in 1820, 5,993 in 2010. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1875 and 4 maps from 1894 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Wilson. Close and well known come first.
Big draw19 mi WaterfallNiagara Falls
Big draw35 mi Stadium & arenaHighmark Stadium
Big draw35 mi Stadium & arenaRalph Wilson Stadium
19 mi WaterfallHorseshoe Falls
18 mi WaterfallBridal Veil Falls
28 mi Stadium & arenaKeyBank CenterNiagara 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 · Bridal Veil Falls: No machine-readable author provided. Liffer~commonswiki assumed (based on copyri, CC BY-SA 3.0 · KeyBank Center: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Wilson, 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 Wilson.
Wilson has commutes shorter than most of New York, but it trails Cambria and its other neighbors on schools.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 93% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Each of its 3 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its B−, Cambria highest at B+.
Its public schools are run by the Wilson Central School District. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Wilson Middle/High School, with 487 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilson Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 483 | B− |
| Wilson Middle/High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 487 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Typical home values rose 5.4% in the year to September 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The average commute for its 2,670 working residents takes 25.3 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Most working residents leave Wilson for work: only 11% work in town. Since 2013, Wilson has added 130 jobs, to 718 in 2023. The top destinations are Buffalo (11%), Amherst (10%) and Niagara Falls (7%).
| Wilson | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $89,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Wilson has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Wilson’s July high is 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Wilson | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.7% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wilson-Tuscarora State Park | 7.8 mi | 478 |
| 2. Calvin Kreuger Park | — | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
| Wilson | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 81% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 33% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 34% | 35% |
| What stands out | Wilson | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.9% | 17.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.7% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Wilson
About 3 of every 100 Wilson residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Town in New York, United States
Wilson is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 5,993 at the 2010 census. The town was named after an early settler, Reuben Wilson, who built and dwelt in a log cabin on the shore of Lake Ontario at the site of what would become the Village of Wilson. The Town of Wilson is on the northern border of the county and contains a village, also called Wilson.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Wilson.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its B; Newfane (B+) is closest.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilson | #344 | B | B− | — | B− | B |
| Newfane | #261 | B+ | B+ | — | B+ | B |
| Cambria | #200 | A− | B− | — | B+ | B+ |
| Porter | #255 | B+ | C+ | — | B+ | B+ |
| Wilson | — | — | B | — | B− | C+ |
Wilson has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Wilson, Newfane, Cambria, Porter and Wilson report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Wilson with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Wilson grades B overall, better than 56% of U.S. towns and #344 of 745 in New York. It grades B for health and B− for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
2 notable people were born here, including Frank A. Dudley and Harold O. White.
