The Best & Worst School Districts In Western New York

As the school year runs down here in Western New York, the website Niche.com recently put out its list of the best Public School districts in the 716. See below to see where your child's school district landed.

Best Public School Districts In Western New York For 2026

The website Niche.com recently released its list of the best public school districts in Western New York. They used several criteria to compile their list. Here is a breakdown of what they used to measure each school district.

Each Category was weighed, and you can see what percentage value it had after each category on the overall score.

Academics Grade - 50%
Teachers Grade - 15%
Culture & Diversity Grade - 12.5%
Parent/Student Surveys on Overall Experience - 12.5%
Resources & Facilities Grade - 5%
Clubs & Activities Grade - 2.5%
Sports Grade - 2.5%

Based on those criteria, here are the Top 10 Best school districts in Western New York.

10 - Hamburg School District
9 - Starpoint School District
8 - Niagara-Wheatfield School District
7 - Lancaster School District
6 - Orchard Park School District
5 - Grand Island School District
4 - East Aurora Union Free School District
3 - Amherst School District
2 - Clarence School District

The Top-Ranked School District In Western New York Is:

Williamsville Central School District.

If you don't see your or your child's school in the Top 10, you can click HERE to see where they ranked on this list.

On the flip side, here are the three school districts that were at the bottom of that list.

Eden Central School District
Niagara Falls City School District
Lackawanna School District

Do you agree or disagree with these rankings? Let me know HERE or send a message using our free APP.