AreaProfile

14215Buffalo, New York

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 14215.

57
Area Score
Bottom 31% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3816th of 4,073 published ZIP areas28
Growth3069th of 3,947 published ZIP areas33
Housing affordabilityTop 47% of 4,553 published ZIP areas78
Climate3461st of 4,621 published ZIP areas62
Physical resilienceTop 25% of 4,554 published ZIP areas80
AccessTop 37% of 4,623 published ZIP areas97
Economic stability4277th of 4,591 published ZIP areas29
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 5.3% and the Opportunity signal places 14215 in the bottom 6%.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published ZIP profiles, placing 14215 in the top 25% for physical resilience.

A major airport is 4 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
42,524
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$44,955
Bottom 10% nationally
Density
8,928/sq mi
4.8 sq mi of land
Median age
31.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Buffalo
New York
Metro area
Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY
Nearest major airport
BUF
4 mi · Buffalo Niagara Intl
Median home value
$111,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.3% is lower than 20% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 0.8% over the past year, to 118,000 employed residents.

Median household income of $44,955 is below 90% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,270$44,955Bottom 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,900$24,751Bottom 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate28.8%Top 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.1 minBottom 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher20.1%Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment118,000Top 23%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.9%Bottom 22%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.8%Top 48%June 2026
Labor force124,643Top 22%June 2026
Labor force participation57.1%Bottom 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$66,480Bottom 44%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$50,790Top 49%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.5%Top 33%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.3%Top 20%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202445k38k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $44,955 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides18,090$36,570
Retail Salespersons15,160$34,910
Fast Food and Counter Workers14,170$34,560
Registered Nurses13,830$99,060
General and Operations Managers11,100$103,280
Cashiers10,590$33,850

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Buffalo, NY, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,039 takes 28% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.5 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
27.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,039
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$111,600
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.48Bottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate50.0%Bottom 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±83118,809Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$62$1,039Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,469$111,600Bottom 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income27.7%Top 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate11.0%Top 50%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
33/ 100
Ranks 3069 of 3,947 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

86% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 0.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
205
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.7
Bottom 17% nationally
Year over year
+8%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
85.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Buffalo, NY, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 80°F and January a low of 19°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 40.7 inches, including 95.4 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BUFFALO, 3.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation40.7"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall95.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low19°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high80°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing46°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

80 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding and heat wave.

Inland floodingElevated
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, winter weather, tornado, ice storm, lightning, earthquake, strong wind, hurricane, wildfire, landslide, coastal flooding, hail, drought, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 4 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Buffalo Niagara IntlBUF4 mi8,829 ft
Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester IntlROC59 mi8,001 ft
Erie Intl/Tom Ridge FldERI91 mi8,420 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
57
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

14215 vs Buffalo

How this ZIP area compares with Buffalo as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

14215
Buffalo
Median household income
$44,955
vs
$50,041
Per capita income
$24,751
vs
$31,843
Population density
8,928/sq mi
vs
6,856/sq mi
Median home value
$111,600
vs
$164,200
Median gross rent
$1,039
vs
$1,046
Homeownership rate
50.0%
vs
43.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher
20.1%
vs
31.2%
Poverty rate
28.8%
vs
26.0%
Median age
31.8
vs
34.3

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.