Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 43/100
D
Median home value$173,600
Buffalo $226,100
Median rent$835/mo
Buffalo $1,057/mo
Cost-burdened households27%
Buffalo 28%
Tonawanda
Erie County15,030 residentsTonawanda City School District
58
C
Suburbgrade score
8th of 13 Buffalo suburbs. Strongest on commute & transport, held back by employment & income.
58
Buffalo median 59
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Tonawanda yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 58 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →
What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.
What Tonawanda is like to live in, by category
Bars show Tonawanda against Buffalo. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 60/100
C
Within-state proficiency46th pct
Buffalo median 33rd pct
Student–teacher ratio10.7
Buffalo median 11.0
Graduation rate87%
Buffalo median 87%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 65/100
C+
Housing cost index82
Buffalo 100
Eff. tax rate1.98%
Buffalo 1.72%
Local sales tax8.54%
Buffalo median 8.54%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 72/100
B−
Mean commute22.7 min
Buffalo 21.5 min
Under 30 minutes75%
Buffalo 75%
Transit stops / sq mi3.3
Buffalo median 2.0 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 70/100
B−
Restaurants & cafés58
Buffalo median 49 · within 2 miles
Groceries4
Buffalo median 6 · within 2 miles
Parks51
Buffalo median 40 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 40/100
D−
Median household income$58,326
Buffalo $72,237
Unemployment6.2%
Buffalo 5.1%
Professional occupations42%
Buffalo 43%
Residents
12% of the score · inactive
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No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.
Ask the people who live here
Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.
Nobody has answered for Tonawanda yet. If you live here, you can be the first.
Is it quiet at night?
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Do you feel safe walking after dark?
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Can you walk to a grocery store?
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Is it good for young children?
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Are yards and streets well kept?
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Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →
Better than Tonawanda on employment & income
Tonawanda's weakest grade is D−. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.
SuburbEmploymentOverall
Lancaster13 mi from TonawandaC+ 63 C+ Kenmore3 mi from TonawandaC+ 65 C+ Tonawanda Town2 mi from TonawandaC 64 C+ Eggertsville5 mi from TonawandaC 71 B− West Seneca14 mi from TonawandaC− 59 C Depew11 mi from TonawandaC− 60 C Median household income: ACS 2020–24 · Unemployment: ACS 2020–24
Common questions about living in Tonawanda
Is Tonawanda, NY a good place to live?
Tonawanda scores 58 out of 100, 8th of 13 Buffalo suburbs. It is strongest on commute & transport and weakest on employment & income. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Tonawanda expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades C+. The median home is $173,600, 23% below the Buffalo median, and the effective property tax rate is 1.98%. $835/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Tonawanda?
Schools grade C. The districts serving Tonawanda sit at the 46th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 87% graduation rate and a 10.7 student–teacher ratio. Tonawanda is served by Tonawanda City School District. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Tonawanda?
The mean commute is 22.7 min, with 75% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 16% working from home. Transit density is 3.3 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Tonawanda?
Within two miles there are 4 groceries, 58 restaurants and cafés and 51 parks, which grades B− on amenities.
Are the homes in Tonawanda old or new?
The median home in Tonawanda was built in 1951 — older than the Buffalo median of 1957. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 75% of homes are houses rather than flats.
Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.