Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY includes the cities of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Jamestown, and the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of Niagara Frontier, and Chautauqua-Alleghany (or the western Southern Tier). Many would also place Rochester and the Genesee Valley in the region, although these locations are also sometimes included in the Finger Lakes Region.

The State of New York sometimes defines the WNY region as including just five counties: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, and Niagara. The state's Empire State Development Corporation and state health authorities have both mapped the region this way. The state has also used this regional boundary to set policy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

More commonly, WNY has been defined to include at least Genesee, Orleans, and Wyoming counties as well. Almost all descriptions of WNY in the Buffalo media market define it as this eight county area. Most organizations that use WNY in their name including the WNY College Consortium, the WNY Genealogical Society, WNY PRISM, the Psychological Association of WNY, and the WNY Land Conservancy describe themselves as working in these eight counties.

Others, such as Clarion Publications, the publisher of the WNY Travel Guide and WesternNY.com, have used the term Western New York to describe a much larger area consisting of 17 counties. In addition to those counties mentioned, they add Chemung, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, and Yates as well.

The rest of this article uses that definition. The 17 counties have a land area of . They include the area of the Holland Purchase and the Phelps and Gorham Purchase.

The area is primarily served by Buffalo and Rochester media markets, although there is considerable overlap between these two markets, as well as other American and Canadian media markets (particularly from nearby Toronto)[citation needed]. In terms of the combined statistical areas used by the United States Census Bureau, Western New York consists of the Buffalo–Cheektowaga–Olean, NY area, the Rochester–Batavia–Seneca Falls, NY area, and the Elmira–Corning, NY area.

Western New York is in some contexts considered a sub-region of "Upstate New York" (when that term is used to describe all of New York State outside Long Island and the New York City metropolitan area).

Subregions

Western New York is generally considered to have 2–4 subregions: Greater Niagara Chautauqua–Allegheny Genesee Western Finger Lakes (sometimes considered part of Central New York)

The Greater Niagara Region (or the Niagara Frontier), comprises Niagara and Erie counties and parts of Genesee and Wyoming counties. It is named for its major features, the Niagara river and Niagara Falls. Buffalo is its largest urban center.

The Chautauqua–Allegheny Region (also known as Southwestern New York or the Western Southern Tier) comprises Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Allegany counties. The region is mountainous. The largest urban center is Jamestown, and Chautauqua Lake and Allegany State Park are major geographical features.

The third region, the Genesee Region, comprises Monroe, Livingston, Wayne, Orleans, Ontario, and Yates counties and parts of Genesee and Wyoming counties. Rochester is its largest urban center. Letchworth State Park is a major geographical feature.

The fourth region is that of the western Finger Lakes Region composed of parts of Seneca, Steuben, Schuyler, and Chemung counties. While parts of the Finger Lakes are considered within Western New York (as either a region or quadrant) the eastern portions are typically considered a part of Central New York.

The Genesee region and Western Finger Lakes region are often combined and described as the Finger Lakes region.

Western New York also includes several Seneca Nation of Indians enclaves.

Population

If it were counted as a single area, the population of Western New York would number just over 2.6 million, and would rank as the 24th largest metropolitan area of the United States, between the Pittsburgh metropolitan area and the Sacramento, California metropolitan area. However, the U.S. Census Bureau has classified the Buffalo and Rochester areas as two different metropolitan areas. If it were counted as a state, the population of Western New York would rank as the 37th most populated state in the United States.

Allegany County, population 48,357 Cattaraugus County, population 79,458 Chautauqua County, population 133,539 Chemung County, population 88,911 Erie County, population 954,236 Genesee County, population 59,977 Livingston County, population 64,810 Monroe County, population 759,443 Niagara County, population 215,124 Ontario County, population 108,519 Orleans County, population 42,836 Schuyler County, population 18,514 Seneca County, population 35,305 Steuben County, population 99,063 Wayne County, population 92,962 Wyoming County, population 41,892 Yates County, population 25,344

Incorporated places The following cities are found in the 17 western counties:

Batavia Buffalo Canandaigua Corning Dunkirk Elmira Geneva Hornell Jamestown Lackawanna Lockport Niagara Falls North Tonawanda Olean Rochester Salamanca Tonawanda

The following villages are found in the 17 western counties:

Addison Akron Albion Alden Alexander Alfred Allegany Almond Andover Angelica Angola Arcade Arkport Attica Avoca, Avon Barker Bath Belmont Bemus Point Bergen Blasdell Bloomfield Bolivar Brockport Brocton Burdett Caledonia Canaseraga Canisteo Cassadaga Castile Cattaraugus Celoron Cherry Creek Churchville Clarence Clifton Springs Clyde Cohocton Corfu Cuba Dansville Delevan Depew Dresden Dundee Dunkirk East Aurora East Randolph East Rochester Eden Elba Ellicottville Elmira Heights Fairport Falconer Farnham Forestville Franklinville Fredonia Gainesville Geneseo Gowanda Hamburg Hammondsport Hilton Holley Honeoye Falls Horseheads Interlaken Kenmore Lakewood Lancaster Le Roy Leicester Lewiston Lima Limestone Little Valley Livonia Lodi Lyndonville Lyons Lockport Macedon Manchester Mayville Medina Middleport Millport Montour Falls Mount Morris Naples Newark Newfane North Collins North Hornell North Tonawanda Nunda Oakfield Odessa Orchard Park Ovid Painted Post Palmyra Panama Pavilion Penn Yan Perry Perrysburg Phelps Pike Pittsford Portville Randolph Red Creek Richburg Riverside Rushville Savona Scottsville Sherman Shortsville Silver Creek Silver Springs Sinclairville Sloan Sodus Sodus Point South Corning South Dayton Spencerport Springville Tonawanda Van Etten Victor Warsaw Waterloo Watkins Glen Wayland Webster Wellsburg Wellsville Westfield Williamsville Wilson Wolcott Wyoming Youngstown

Climate

Western New York has a humid continental climate heavily influenced by both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Winters are long and cold, often lasting from around mid-November to early April. There are often snows before and after that period, as well. Western New York is known for its lake effect snows, which can result in highly localized, sometimes intense and even historic snow events. Lake effect storms are a result of cold air picking up water vapor as it blows over warm lake waters. Lake effect snows are usually most active between November and February and typically diminish when Lake Erie freezes over. Generally, the heaviest amount of snow in Western New York during the winter falls near the southern end of Erie County as well as in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, and Wyoming counties. Spring and fall in Western New York are usually short and changeable. The presence of the lakes allows for fruit growing and wine production along areas adjacent to both lakes, which retard the development of damaging spring and fall frost, thereby extending the growing season. Lost in its famed winters, Western New York summers are among the sunniest in the Northeast and are generally very pleasant. Thanks in part to breezes blowing over Lakes Erie and Ontario (which are usually cooler than the air temperature in the summer), most of Western New York enjoy generally cooler and more comfortable summers than other regions in the same climatic zone.

Transportation

Major highways Interstate System Interstate 90, also known as the New York State Thruway Interstate 86 in the Southern Tier Interstate 190 in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan area Interstate 290 in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan area Interstate 390 (the former U.S. Route 15) in the Genesee Valley region Interstate 490 in the Rochester Metro area Interstate 590 in the Rochester Metro area Interstate 990 in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan area

U.S. Routes U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20a U.S. Route 62 U.S. Route 219

Major airports

Western New York has two airports that provide significant regular passenger service, Buffalo–Niagara International Airport and Greater Rochester International Airport. Buffalo–Niagara International Airport is the most patronized airport facility in Western New York. While it primarily serves as the regional airport for the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Area, the facility doubles as a gateway to Canada, and a good portion of its passengers (33%) are Canadian. The second major airport in Western New York, Greater Rochester International Airport, does not see as much traffic as Buffalo–Niagara International Airport. Still, located just three nautical miles southwest of Downtown Rochester, the facility provides convenient access to airline service for many residents of the Rochester Metropolitan Area.

Railroad service

The northern part of Western New York features four railroad stations in service on the Empire Corridor: Rochester, Buffalo–Depew, Buffalo–Exchange Street and Niagara Falls. The Buffalo–Exchange Street and Niagara Falls stations do not see as much rail service as the other two Western New York stations due to the fact that, west of Depew Station, Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited leaves the Empire Corridor en route to the Midwest. For a period of time, there were proposals to service these four stations with high-speed rail. A major objective of implementing high-speed rail service was to better connect Western New York as well as the rest of Upstate New York with New York City. However, little of substance has come of these proposals.

Service to other parts of Western New York ended from the mid-1960s to 1970. The Erie Lackawanna's Phoebe Snow served on a southeastern trajectory from Buffalo to Elmira, Binghamton, Scranton and Hoboken; service ended in 1966. The E-L's Lake Cities originated in Chicago, passing through Western New York's Jamestown, then through the rest of the Southern Tier, Orange County and terminating at Hoboken, NJ; service ended on January 6, 1970. The Pennsylvania Railroad's Buffalo Day Express was another route serving Western New York, traveling south to Baltimore via Olean and Harrisburg; this train was discontinued in 1967, but an unnamed Penn Central (PC) successor lasted through April 30, 1971, when AMTRAK assumed most of the remaining U.S. rail passenger service but declined to serve the Baltimore-Harrisburg-Buffalo route of the former PRR/PC.

The Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad and WNY&P both operate freight service in the region. A few shortline railroads also offer rail service, including the New York and Lake Erie Railroad and the Arcade and Attica Railroad.

Bus service