Buffalo, New York Cost Of Living

A+

18%

Overall NAT. AVG.

5%

Goods & Services NAT. AVG.

50%

Housing NAT. AVG.

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2022 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Buffalo	New York	National
Cost of living	82	119	100
Goods & Services	95	110	100
Groceries	96	113	100
Health care	89	101	100
Housing	50	145	100
Transportation	96	108	100
Utilities	97	98	100

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Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in Buffalo is 32% lower than the New York average
The cost of living in Buffalo is 18% lower than the national average
Buffalo housing is 50% lower than the national average
New York general sales tax is 22% lower than the national average
New York state income tax is 77% higher than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$52,050	$4,338	$1,214	$1,562
Renters	$22,316	$1,860	$521	$670

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in Buffalo is by simply calculating the maximum that should be spent on housing, otherwise known as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The plan is to avoid spending more than 28 percent of the gross income on costs that pertain to housing and no more than 36 percent on all expenses and debts. Buffalo has a median income of about $52,050 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $1,214 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $22,316. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $521 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

New York Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
New York	4%	8.875%

New York Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
New York	4%	10.9%

Goods & Services

Item	Buffalo	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$18.56	$20.27	8.4%
Beauty Salon	$39.63	$40.39	1.9%
Toothpaste	$1.96	$2.36	16.8%
Shampoo	$0.98	$1.08	8.6%
Movie	$11.21	$10.99	2.0%
Bowling	$14.11	$15.49	8.9%

Groceries

Item	Buffalo	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.84	$4.30	10.6%
Fried Chicken	$1.26	$1.40	10.2%
Milk	$2.34	$2.20	6.1%
Potatoes	$2.95	$3.22	8.5%
Pizza	$10.99	$10.74	2.3%
Beer	$10.07	$9.60	4.9%

Health Care

Item	Buffalo	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$72.83	$109.73	33.6%
Doctor	$86.85	$118.34	26.6%
Dentist	$98.38	$100.94	2.5%
Ibuprofen	$8.81	$9.93	11.3%
Lipitor	$497.50	$469.53	6.0%

Housing

Item	Buffalo	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$72,600.00	$184,700.00	60.7%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,249.17	$1,229.62	1.6%
Apartment Rent	$710.00	$949.00	25.2%

Transportation

Item	Buffalo	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.73	$2.71	0.8%
Tire Balancing	$45.17	$51.86	12.9%

Utilities

Item	Buffalo	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$158.42	$170.84	7.3%
Phone	$192.72	$187.18	3.0%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Niagara Falls, NY	49,180	81	19.3%
Sloan, NY	3,606	81	18.7%
Lackawanna, NY	17,992	82	18.0%
Blasdell, NY	2,616	84	16.5%
Tonawanda city, NY	14,991	84	16.3%
Buffalo, NY	258,989	82	18.4%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Burnaby, BC	258,827	n/a
Kitchener, ON	259,162	n/a
Chula Vista, CA	260,598	139	39.1%
Fort Wayne, IN	260,954	86	13.6%
Jersey City, NJ	261,666	139	39.4%
Buffalo, NY	258,989	82	18.4%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2022 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.