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Towns / New York

Silver Creek, New York

Silver Creek is a small town of about 2,600 people in Chautauqua County, New York. It has lost about 3% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 2 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
2,575
down 3.1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$125,400
Chautauqua County prices up 23% since 2022
Household income
$63,854
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural New York
91.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
9 miles
Dunkirk, NY
To Buffalo
29 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 8.4% below the U.S. average in the parts of New York outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Silver Creek itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byBrooks-Tlc Hospital System, INC in Dunkirk, about 9 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 Silver Creek 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
$125,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 23%Chautauqua County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$967 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$63,854U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
68%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,350 a yearNew York: $6,582
Homes built before 1940
67%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
0%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
91.6U.S. average = 100 (the parts of New York outside metro areas)

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 parts of New York outside metro areas, not Silver Creek 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
2,5752020: 2,658
Median age
36.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
12%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
27%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
29%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
4%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%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (11%); retail (10%)
Unemployment rate
7%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
29 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Below the poverty line
21%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Brooks-Tlc Hospital System, INC, Dunkirk, NY, about 9 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 1 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

3 public schools in Silver Creek, run by Silver Creek 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
86%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
97%U.S.: 91%

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
19°F
July average high
80°F
Days 90°F or hotter
3 a year
Nights at or below freezing
122 a year
Rain and melted snow
41.1 inches a year
Snow
76 inches a year
Elevation
593 feet

Weather stations: Dunkirk Chautauqua Ap (6 miles away) and Fredonia (10 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: Brooks-Tlc Hospital System, Buffalo.

Chautauqua County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site29 miles

Read about Silver Creek's history on Wikipedia.

Know Silver Creek?

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

  • Sunset Bay, NY (unincorporated)384 people, 2 miles
  • Forestville, NY (unincorporated)721 people, 5 miles
  • Farnham, NY359 people, 6 miles
  • Angola on the Lake, NY (unincorporated)1,707 people, 10 miles
  • Perrysburg, NY (unincorporated)466 people, 10 miles
  • South Dayton, NY545 people, 14 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.