Lancaster, New York.
, asking rent $1,599 . Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,478 (+116%) since Jan 2020.
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- New York$2,755
- United States$1,922
Living in Lancaster, Erie County, New York
Lancaster is a village of 10,027 people in Erie County. Half its households earn more than $66,148 a year and half less, against $72,839 across Erie County; 7% of its people live below the poverty line. 74% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 26% are rented. Unemployment in Erie County was 4.4% in August 2026, and the county had 0.3% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then manufacturing.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Lancaster is a village in Erie County where most homes are lived in by their owners, and the population sits somewhat older than much of the country. Household incomes run below the county's, and a modest share of residents live below the poverty line. Winters are cold and very snowy, with January the coldest month, while summers are pleasantly warm, with July the warmest.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, with manufacturing and professional and business services also well represented. Among the largest workplaces in Lancaster are the Lancaster Central School District, Rise Baking Company and Seibel Modern Mfg & Welding. Commutes are fairly short, and only a small share of people work from home.
Things to do. A short drive away, the Buffalo Zoo and the Buffalo River are close options for a day out. Farther afield, a longer drive brings you to Niagara Falls, one of the best known waterfalls in the world, and to the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, an art museum.
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- 4,850households
- 27%of adults have a degree
- 7%below the poverty line
- 19 mintypical commute
- 7%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Erie County had 464,902 jobs in 2025, 0.3% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 32° and lows near 19°; warmest in July, with highs near 80° and lows near 63°. About 95 inches of snow and 41 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Buffalo weather station, 5 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Lancaster
- Lancaster Central School DistrictSchool district893FTE
- NYSEG Binghamton Service CenterElectric power generation, hydroelectric203
- Rise Baking CompanyCommercial bakeries73
- Seibel Modern Mfg & WeldingFabricated structural metal manufacturing62
- ManitobaRecyclable materials merchant wholesalers45
- Beauty PoolsSwimming pool, outdoor, construction42
- Bausch and Lomb AmericasContact lenses manufacturing30
- Davey Tree Expert CompanyLandscaping services25
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 8 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 505 people in all. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Cold wavesRelatively high
- Winter weatherRelatively high
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Lancaster’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Erie County and the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY metro.
Lancaster home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 5 Lancaster listings, and the typical home goes pending in 11 days — the market is roughly in balance.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Lancaster22.07%
- United States26.90%
Days to pending
How long the typical listing takes to go under contract.
- Lancaster11
- United States27
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Lancaster67
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Lancaster39
Sale-to-list ratio
Above 100%, homes sell over asking; below, buyers negotiate wins.
- Lancaster108.36%
Zip codes with a Lancaster address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Lancaster — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.