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| Racial composition | 2019[1] | 2010[2] | 1990[3] | 1970[3] | 1940[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 47.1% | 50.4% | 64.7% | 78.7% | 96.8% |
| —Non-Hispanic | 43.1% | 45.8% | 63.1% | n/a | n/a |
| Black or African American | 36.5% | 38.6% | 30.7% | 20.4% | 3.1% |
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) | 12.3% | 10.5% | 4.9% | 1.6%[4] | n/a |
| Asian | 5.9% | 3.2% | 1.0% | 0.2% | n/a |
| Other race | 4.0% | 3.1% | 2.8% | 0.2% | n/a |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1810 | 1,508 | — |
| 1820 | 2,095 | +38.9% |
| 1830 | 8,668 | +313.7% |
| 1840 | 18,213 | +110.1% |
| 1850 | 42,261 | +132.0% |
| 1860 | 81,129 | +92.0% |
| 1870 | 117,714 | +45.1% |
| 1880 | 155,134 | +31.8% |
| 1890 | 255,664 | +64.8% |
| 1900 | 352,387 | +37.8% |
| 1910 | 423,715 | +20.2% |
| 1920 | 506,775 | +19.6% |
| 1930 | 573,076 | +13.1% |
| 1940 | 575,901 | +0.5% |
| 1950 | 580,132 | +0.7% |
| 1960 | 532,759 | −8.2% |
| 1970 | 462,768 | −13.1% |
| 1980 | 357,870 | −22.7% |
| 1990 | 328,123 | −8.3% |
| 2000 | 292,648 | −10.8% |
| 2010 | 261,310 | −10.7% |
| 2019* | 255,244 | −2.3% |
| * = Population estimate Source: United States Census records and Population Estimates Program data.[5] | ||
Prior to 1800, several hundred Senecas and other Iroquois tribes were the primary residents in the Buffalo area, concentrated along Buffalo Creek.[6] The 1830s–1850s saw multitudes of working-class Irish and Germans from Europe, across rural New York and New England settle in the south and east sides of the city, respectively, preferring ethnocentric neighborhoods.[7] At the turn of the 20th century, Polish immigrants replaced Germans on the east side, while Italian communities and families settled throughout the city, primarily on the lower west side.[8] Puerto Ricans arrived en masse during the 1940s–1950s, settling on the east side and shifting westward, where they are to date.[9] Since the 1970s, Buffalo has been mitigating the effects of urban decay, including populations losses to the suburbs and Sun Belt states, and job losses from its declining industrial base. The city's population grew until it peaked at 580,132 residents in 1950. At the time, Buffalo was the 15th largest city in the United States, down from the 8th largest in 1900 as the rate of growth slowed in the 1920s.[10] The city's population started declining in the second half of 20th century due to suburbanization but began stabilizing in the 2010s. Buffalo had a population of 261,310 at the 2010 census and an estimated 255,284 residents in 2019.[11]
Buffalo residents were generally intolerant of the small groups of Black Americans who began settling on the city's east side around the 1830s.[12][a] Over one hundred years later, wartime and manufacturing jobs during the First and Second Great Migrations would attract many more Black Americans living in the South, and the city's black population rose by 433% from 1940 to 1970, replacing most of the Polish community[13] on the east side.[14] However, the combined effects of redlining, steering,[15] social inequality, blockbusting, White flight[16] and other racialized policies have resulted in the city and region ranking highly in segregation relative to other areas of the country.[14][17] Today, Buffalo is a majority minority city whose residents are predominately Black and Latino Americans.
Compared to other major metropolitan areas in the country, the number of foreign-born immigrants to the city is low, but new immigrants have been disproportionately resettled refugees—especially those from war or disaster-afflicted nations, as well as those who previously settled in other U.S. cities.[18] In the early 2000s, most immigrants came from Canada and Yemen, which shifted in the 2010s with Burmese (Karen) refugees and Indians immigrants.[18] Burmese, Somali, Bhutanese, and Iraqi Americans were the four largest ethnic immigrant groups in Erie County from 2008–2016.[18]
Poverty has remained a considerable issue for the city. In 2019, it was estimated that 30.1% of individuals and 24.8% of families were below the federal poverty line.[1] Per capita income was measured at $24,400, and household income was $37,354, much less than the national average.[19][1] A 2008 report noted that while food deserts are seen in larger cities and not in Buffalo, the city's neighborhoods of color have access to smaller grocery stores while lacking the supermarkets seen in white neighborhoods.[20] A 2018 report revealed that over fifty city blocks on Buffalo's East Side lack adequate access to a supermarket.[14] Compared to the rest of the state, Erie County ranked three years lower in average lifespan at 78.4 years old in 2019, with 17% smoking and 30% obesity rates, slightly higher than the state average.[21] According to the Partnership for the Public Good, educational attainment in the city is lower than the surrounding area; city residents are almost twice as likely as adults in the metro area to lack a high school diploma.[22]
Religion edit
In the early 19th century, Presbyterian missionaries tried to convert the native Seneca people at the Buffalo Creek Reservation to Christianity. Initially resistant, some tribal members set aside their traditions and practices to form their own branch of the sect.[23][6] Later, European immigrants added other faiths. Today, Christianity is the predominant religion in Buffalo and Western New York. Catholicism, specifically the Latin Church has a large presence in the region, with 161 parishes and over 570,000 adherents in the Diocese of Buffalo.[24] Major Protestant denominations in the area include Lutheranism, Baptism, Methodism, and Pentecostalism, with approximately 20,000 non-denominational adherents.[needs update][25] The Jewish community has had a presence in the city since the mid-1800s; approximately one thousand German and Lithuanian Jews settled in Buffalo prior to 1880. The first synagogue, Temple Beth El, was established in 1847;[26] the city's Temple Beth Zion is the largest synagogue in the region.[27] With the changing demographics and increase in the number of refugees on the city's East Side,[28] religions such as Islam and Buddhism have expanded their presence, with former churches converted into mosques and temples.[29] Hinduism maintains a small but active presence in the area, including in the town of Amherst.[30] A 2016 American Bible Society survey claimed that Buffalo is the fifth-least "Bible-minded" city in the United States, with 13% of residents associating themselves with the Bible.[31]
- ^ a b c "QuickFacts Buffalo city, Buffalo: Race and Hispanic Origin". US Census Bureau. 2019. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ "Buffalo (city), New York". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on May 4, 2014.
- ^ a b c "Race and Hispanic Origin for Selected Cities and Other Places: Earliest Census to 1990". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on August 12, 2012.
- ^ From 15% sample
- ^ US Census Bureau. "Census of Population and Housing". Archived from the original on April 26, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ a b Hauptman, Laurence M. (1999). "Chapter 7: The Lake Effect". Conspiracy of interests : Iroquois dispossession and the rise of New York State. Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press. pp. 107, 111–113. ISBN 978-0-8156-0547-8. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ Goldman 1983, pp. 72–87, 176.
- ^ Goldman 1983, pp. 176–186.
- ^ Partnership for the Public Good (June 22, 2015). "From Puerto Rico to Buffalo" (PDF). Partnership for the Public Good. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ Goldman 1983, p. 214.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
USCensusEst2019was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Goldman 1983, pp. 87–92.
- ^ Tulke, Julia (2020). "3. Of Silo Dreams and Deviant Houses: Uneven Geographies of Abandonment in Buffalo, New York". Buffalo at the crossroads : the past, present, and future of American urbanism. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 74–75. ISBN 9781501749797. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ a b c Blatto, Anna (April 2018). "A City Divided: A Brief History of Segregation in Buffalo" (PDF). Partnership for the Public Good. pp. 3, 4, 12. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ Goldman 1983, p. 286.
- ^ Goldman 1983, p. 284–285.
- ^ Yin, Li (December 2009). "The Dynamics of Residential Segregation in Buffalo: An Agent-based Simulation". Urban Studies. 46 (13): 2753. doi:10.1177/0042098009346326.
- ^ a b c Partnership for the Public Good (February 28, 2018). "Immigrants, Refugees, and Languages Spoken in Buffalo" (PDF). Partnership for the Public Good. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ "ACS State and Local Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Statistics". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- ^ Raja, Samina; Yadav, Pavan (June 2008). "Beyond Food Deserts: Measuring and Mapping Racial Disparities in Neighborhood Food Environments". Journal of Planning Education and Research. 27 (4): 469. doi:10.1177/0739456X08317461. Archived from the original on April 14, 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ Scanlon, Scott (March 27, 2020). "Covid-19 or not, Western New York has serious health issues". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- ^ Partnership for the Public Good. "Public Education In Buffalo And The Region". Partnership for the Public Good.
{{cite web}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ Nicholas, Mark A. (2006). "PRACTICING LOCAL FAITH & LOCAL POLITICS: SENECAS, PRESBYTERIANISM, AND A "NEW INDIAN MISSION HISTORY"". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 73 (1): 69–72. ISSN 0031-4528. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ Herbeck, Dan (May 23, 2020). "Facing huge debts, Buffalo Diocese studies possible mergers of churches, schools". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ 2010 U.S. religion census : religious congregations & membership study : an enumeration by nation, state, and county based on data reported for 236 religious groups. [Kansas City, Mo.]: Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. 2012. p. 397. ISBN 0615623441.
- ^ Kotzin, Chana Revell (2013). Jewish community of Greater Buffalo. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. pp. 12–16. ISBN 978-1-4671-2006-7.
- ^ Watson, Stephen T. (March 27, 2020). "Synagogues in Buffalo, Ontario plan online Shabbat service". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ Reinl, James (February 2, 2016). "Muslim refugees in Buffalo defy stereotypes". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ Krishna, Ashima (August 30, 2019). "A new solution for America's empty churches: A change of faith". The Conversation. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ Neville, Anne (September 8, 2019). "Hindu festival honoring Lord Ganesha is new beginning of welcoming community". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ Keenan, John (2016-12-07). "Where is the world's most 'godless' city?". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
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