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Towns / New York

Middleport, New York

Middleport is a small town of about 1,700 people in Niagara County, New York. It has lost about 3% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 1.7 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Buffalo, is about 29 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,692
down 2.9% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$115,400
Niagara County prices up 23% since 2022
Household income
$67,375
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Buffalo area
95.8
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
4 miles
Medina, NY
To Buffalo
29 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 4.2% below the U.S. average in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 1.7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood1 violent crime was reported in 2025, about 0.6 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 0 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byMedina Memorial Hospital in Medina, about 4 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBuffalo is about 29 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Middleport meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$115,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 23%Niagara County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$770 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$67,375U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
72%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,507 a yearNew York: $6,582
Homes built before 1940
63%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
0%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
2%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
95.8U.S. average = 100 (the Buffalo-Cheektowaga metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 23% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Buffalo-Cheektowaga metro area, not Middleport alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,6922020: 1,742
Median age
38 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
13%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
22%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (26%); manufacturing (19%); transportation, warehousing and utilities (9%)
Unemployment rate
6%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
31 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
9%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
8%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Medina Memorial Hospital, Medina, NY, about 4 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: United Memorial Medical Center, Batavia, NY, about 21 miles away. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

2 public schools in Middleport, run by Royalton-Hartland Central School District.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on New York's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
77%U.S.: 76%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
18°F
July average high
82°F
Days 90°F or hotter
7 a year
Nights at or below freezing
136 a year
Rain and melted snow
35.2 inches a year
Snow
67 inches a year
Elevation
518 feet

Weather stations: Lockport 4E (7 miles away) and Albion (14 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Medina Memorial Hospital, Buffalo.

Niagara County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site29 miles

Read about Middleport's history on Wikipedia.

Know Middleport?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Gasport, NY (unincorporated)1,212 people, 6 miles
  • Lyndonville, NY771 people, 9 miles
  • Barker, NY566 people, 9 miles
  • Rapids, NY (unincorporated)1,655 people, 12 miles
  • Olcott, NY (unincorporated)527 people, 15 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.