Dunkirk, New York

Area Profile

12,549 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Dunkirk, in Chautauqua County.

49out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 18% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity3,490th of 4,199 cities measured40
Schools2,676th of 4,162 cities measured39
Growth4,063rd of 4,224 cities measured17
Housing affordabilityTop 20% of 4,218 cities measured77
Climate3,081st of 4,225 cities measured63
Physical resilienceTop 47% of 4,226 cities measured61
Access3,558th of 4,226 cities measured75
Economic stability4,042nd of 4,226 cities measured23
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 4.6% and the Opportunity signal places Dunkirk in the bottom 17%. The unemployment rate is published for Chautauqua County, NY, which contains Dunkirk, rather than for Dunkirk alone.

In the public schools here, 60% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 9.0 students for every teacher.

No residential units were authorized over the past twelve months, against a nonzero total the year before. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
12,549
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$53,299
Bottom 28% nationally
Density
2,761/sq mi
4.5 sq mi of land
Median age
43.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
New York
Nearest major airport
BUF
44 mi · Buffalo Niagara Intl
Median home value
$94,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Chautauqua County, NY, which contains Dunkirk, is 4.6% — higher than in all but 40% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Chautauqua County, NY, which contains Dunkirk, fell 0.7% over the past year, to 51,002 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsChautauqua County, NY’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$53,58013th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftChautauqua County, NY’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$52,88311th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,9552024 ACS 5-Year$53,299Bottom 28%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,7702024 ACS 5-Year$27,787Bottom 29%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year24.1%Bottom 16%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year19.9 minTop 17%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year16.4%Bottom 39%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year79.5%58th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentChautauqua County, NY’s figureJuly 202651,002Bottom 47%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Chautauqua County, NY’s figureJuly 2026−1.1%Bottom 38%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Chautauqua County, NY’s figureJuly 2026−0.7%Top 47%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceChautauqua County, NY’s figureJuly 202653,43547th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year66.5%Bottom 20%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.0%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%73rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Chautauqua County, NY’s figureJuly 2026+0.2%Bottom 33%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateChautauqua County, NY’s figureJuly 20264.6%Bottom 40%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year4.5%34th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202453k37k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $53,299 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Chautauqua County, NY, which contains this city.

60% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 54% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 9.0 students for every full-time teacher across 5 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
5
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
9.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
59.7%
Bottom 27% in New York
Reading proficiency
53.9%
Bottom 21% in New York
All 5 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Dunkirk Senior High SchoolDUNKIRK CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT8829.892%87%
Dunkirk Intermediate SchoolDUNKIRK CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT5758.725%24%
School 3DUNKIRK CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT1579.822%12%
School 5DUNKIRK CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT1528.962%42%
School 7DUNKIRK CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT1346.137%27%

74.6% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against New York’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of New York is up 52% over five years, and up 6.7% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,352 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.48% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $975, some 13% above the $866 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $975 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $39,000 a year, about 73% of the median household income here of $53,299.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $866 a month.

A median home at $94,700 costs 1.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $66,766, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
28.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$975
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$866
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$94,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Dunkirk’s median household income of $53,299, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of New York’s figure2026 Q2+6.7%96th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of New York’s figure2026 Q2+52.3%85th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of New York’s figure2026 Q2+101.7%65th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year1.4Top 13%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year58.5%18th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2842024 ACS 5-Year6,16790th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$754Top 4%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,287Top 7%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$975Top 7%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$812024 ACS 5-Year$866Top 38%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,1292024 ACS 5-Year$94,70016th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1752024 ACS 5-Year$2,35263rd percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,3132024 ACS 5-Year$66,766Bottom 33%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.24%2024 ACS 5-Year2.48%97th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year28.0%Top 48%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±682024 ACS 5-Year6786th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.1%62nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year9.2%61st percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1982024 ACS 5-Year63792nd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

17/ 100
Ranks 4,063 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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.

Population has fallen 3% since 2020, to 12,379 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 0 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Chautauqua County, NY, which contains Dunkirk, rather than for Dunkirk alone.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Chautauqua County, which contains Dunkirk, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $53,580, close to the $52,883 of households that moved out.

At 0.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
0
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.0
Bottom 1% nationally
Year over year
−100%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202413k12k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been falling for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
57%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$53,580
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$52,883
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Erie County, NY 585 people · 21% of arrivals
  2. Cattaraugus County, NY 295 people · 10% of arrivals
  3. Erie County, PA 216 people · 7.6% of arrivals
  4. Warren County, PA 130 people · 4.6% of arrivals
  5. Monroe County, NY 47 people · 1.7% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Erie County, NY 502 people · 17% of departures
  2. Erie County, PA 229 people · 7.9% of departures
  3. Cattaraugus County, NY 209 people · 7.2% of departures
  4. Warren County, PA 96 people · 3.3% of departures
  5. Monroe County, NY 56 people · 1.9% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Chautauqua County, NY. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420251.00.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey.

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 33.0 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 36, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DUNKIRK CHAUTAUQUA AP, 3.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year512024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals33.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals19°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals80°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year362024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals44°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
36
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
51
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

61 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 83% of it. Tornado and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Inland floodingElevated
Strong windModerate
Heat waveModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
252
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,537
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Dunkirk's police department reported 252 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,537.

Chautauqua County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.7 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 8.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 23.2 per 100,000 residents in Chautauqua County.

Homicide
2.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
8.8
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
23.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.8
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Dunkirk’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Dunkirk (Chautauqua County) rather than Dunkirk itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Buffalo Niagara Intl at 44 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year92.1%Top 39%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle44 miBottom 16%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.7%Top 41%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Buffalo Niagara IntlBUF44 mi8,829 ft
Erie Intl/Tom Ridge FldERI51 mi8,420 ft
Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester IntlROC95 mi8,001 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
49
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—

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Other cities in Jamestown-Dunkirk, NY

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
JamestownChautauqua County28,18848Jamestown vs Dunkirk

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Dunkirk side by side with a similar place.

Dunkirk vs ChillicotheDunkirk vs Auburn

Moving to Dunkirk from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Dunkirk

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Dunkirk with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Dunkirk closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
1404814,739$56,431$104,000—