Residence, not lifetime exposure
County registry data generally describe residence at diagnosis. They do not reconstruct where a person lived or worked throughout life.
Founding edition · 2026
Public Health Atlas · Cancer
What do the official cancer records show?
Compare age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates across all eight Western New York counties, inspect statewide placement, and then move into carefully dated local investigations.
This page does not establish environmental causation.
Cancer patterns reflect many factors, including age, tobacco and alcohol use, infections, genetics, occupation, screening, access to care, and environmental exposures. A rate difference or nearby site is a starting point for careful research—not proof of cause.
County geography8 WNY counties
Rate standard2000 U.S. population
County comparison2018–2020
Latest registry portalThrough 2023
Western New York
Circles show approximate county centers and are sized by the selected value. They are not patient locations.
Eight-county comparison
Highest reported value to lowest
Placement is descriptive. “Highest” is not automatically “worst,” particularly for access, income, screening, and protective measures.
Historical trend
Erie County and the NYS-excluding-NYC reference
Bars use the source's annual values. Definition changes and gaps remain attached to the official series.
Erie CountyNYS excluding NYC
2011566.4
2012563.1
2013545.9
2014536.2
2015549.1
2016554.6
2017534.1
2018539.9
2019554.5
2020482.8
All New York counties
Sortable-source audit view
62 counties have a reported value for this indicator. Suppressed or unavailable values are not assigned a rank.
| Rank | County | Value | Period | Events | Denominator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jefferson | 557.9 | 2018-2020 | 1,964 | 110,168 |
| 2 | Niagara | 548.6 | 2018-2020 | 4,916 | 209,420 |
| 3 | Orleans | 543.3 | 2018-2020 | 907 | 40,346 |
| 4 | Wyoming | 539.8 | 2018-2020 | 893 | 39,797 |
| 5 | Cortland | 531.1 | 2018-2020 | 936 | 47,435 |
| 6 | Oswego | 530.7 | 2018-2020 | 2,395 | 116,933 |
| 7 | Fulton | 528 | 2018-2020 | 1,217 | 53,267 |
| 8 | Erie | 525.7 | 2018-2020 | 19,415 | 918,665 |
| 9 | Montgomery | 521.9 | 2018-2020 | 1,063 | 49,342 |
| 10 | Chautauqua | 521.6 | 2018-2020 | 2,850 | 126,728 |
| 11 | Albany | 520.2 | 2018-2020 | 6,024 | 305,032 |
| 12 | Ontario | 518.3 | 2018-2020 | 2,505 | 110,012 |
| 13 | Schuyler | 515.6 | 2018-2020 | 428 | 17,780 |
| 14 | Seneca | 514.7 | 2018-2020 | 734 | 34,152 |
| 15 | Wayne | 513.3 | 2018-2020 | 1,968 | 89,755 |
| 16 | Yates | 513.1 | 2018-2020 | 563 | 24,880 |
| 17 | Genesee | 512.6 | 2018-2020 | 1,245 | 57,306 |
| 18 | Suffolk | 510.7 | 2018-2020 | 29,728 | 1,478,291 |
| 19 | Greene | 509.6 | 2018-2020 | 1,120 | 47,263 |
| 20 | Onondaga | 508.6 | 2018-2020 | 9,097 | 460,658 |
| 21 | Richmond | 507.1 | 2018-2020 | 9,072 | 476,000 |
| 22 | Chenango | 504.6 | 2018-2020 | 1,049 | 47,155 |
| 23 | Warren | 503 | 2018-2020 | 1,522 | 64,002 |
| 24 | Washington | 502.4 | 2018-2020 | 1,332 | 61,036 |
| 25 | Hamilton | 501.7 | 2018-2020 | 129 | 4,412 |
| 26 | Rensselaer | 501.6 | 2018-2020 | 3,129 | 158,847 |
| 27 | Monroe | 501.3 | 2018-2020 | 14,550 | 742,581 |
| 28 | Livingston | 501 | 2018-2020 | 1,290 | 62,857 |
| 29 | Clinton | 498.3 | 2018-2020 | 1,580 | 80,161 |
| 30 | Cattaraugus | 496.4 | 2018-2020 | 1,606 | 76,280 |
| 31 | Columbia | 495.1 | 2018-2020 | 1,468 | 59,656 |
| 32 | Schenectady | 495.1 | 2018-2020 | 2,996 | 155,413 |
| 33 | Saratoga | 494.9 | 2018-2020 | 4,718 | 230,020 |
| 34 | Cayuga | 494 | 2018-2020 | 1,635 | 76,533 |
| 35 | Tioga | 494 | 2018-2020 | 1,052 | 48,213 |
| 36 | Nassau | 493.2 | 2018-2020 | 26,687 | 1,354,943 |
| 37 | Chemung | 492.8 | 2018-2020 | 1,723 | 83,353 |
| 38 | Oneida | 491.2 | 2018-2020 | 4,585 | 228,339 |
| 39 | Broome | 489.2 | 2018-2020 | 3,855 | 190,793 |
| 40 | Lewis | 474.8 | 2018-2020 | 520 | 26,340 |
| 41 | Tompkins | 474.4 | 2018-2020 | 1,574 | 101,804 |
| 42 | St. Lawrence | 473.3 | 2018-2020 | 2,031 | 107,828 |
| 43 | Otsego | 473.2 | 2018-2020 | 1,212 | 59,292 |
| 44 | Delaware | 469.7 | 2018-2020 | 1,026 | 44,306 |
| 45 | Franklin | 468.8 | 2018-2020 | 929 | 50,131 |
| 46 | Herkimer | 468.2 | 2018-2020 | 1,264 | 61,354 |
| 47 | Schoharie | 468.1 | 2018-2020 | 681 | 31,122 |
| 48 | Putnam | 468 | 2018-2020 | 1,893 | 98,638 |
| 49 | Orange | 466.2 | 2018-2020 | 6,082 | 384,198 |
| 50 | Steuben | 459.7 | 2018-2020 | 1,865 | 95,287 |
| 51 | Rockland | 456.7 | 2018-2020 | 5,218 | 326,078 |
| 52 | Dutchess | 453.5 | 2018-2020 | 5,436 | 293,680 |
| 53 | Ulster | 451.5 | 2018-2020 | 3,492 | 178,053 |
| 54 | Westchester | 451.5 | 2018-2020 | 17,024 | 967,732 |
| 55 | Allegany | 448.6 | 2018-2020 | 835 | 45,929 |
| 56 | Madison | 444.1 | 2018-2020 | 1,309 | 70,844 |
| 57 | Sullivan | 442 | 2018-2020 | 1,390 | 75,578 |
| 58 | New York | 423 | 2018-2020 | 25,283 | 1,625,569 |
| 59 | Kings | 418.7 | 2018-2020 | 35,336 | 2,560,450 |
| 60 | Bronx | 414.9 | 2018-2020 | 18,823 | 1,417,215 |
| 61 | Queens | 408.1 | 2018-2020 | 34,054 | 2,251,683 |
| 62 | Essex | 397.4 | 2018-2020 | 745 | 37,062 |
Historic and local cancer context
Small-area records remain separate from county surveillance.
This map preserves the original small-area and investigation records. Its dates and geography differ from the county explorer above. The dedicated Health Explorer now owns the other public-health topics.
All cancer incidenceCounty · Age-adjusted rate per 100,000
No ZIP-, city-, system-, or smaller-area records are displayed for this layer.
Community comparison
Rates are comparable only when their definitions travel with them.
County figures below come from a fixed NYSDOH public-data extract so this first release can be reproduced. New York and U.S. references use the current NCI/CDC periods; differing years are labeled rather than silently mixed.
Selected measure
All cancer incidence
Age-adjusted rate per 100,000 all persons. County and reference periods differ and are printed on every row.
Erie County2018–2020 · 19,415 events
525.7Niagara County2018–2020 · 4,916 events
548.6New York State2018–2022 · reference rate
467.1United States2018–2022 · reference rate
448.6Historical trend
Annual all-cancer incidence, 2011–2020
Age-adjusted annual rates per 100,000. The 2020 decline should be read in light of pandemic-related disruptions to screening and diagnosis.
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
View the exact annual values
| Year | Erie | Niagara | NYS excluding NYC | United States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 566.4 | 526.2 | 523.3 | 472.2 |
| 2012 | 563.1 | 504.0 | 505.0 | 460.1 |
| 2013 | 545.9 | 562.4 | 513.5 | 460.5 |
| 2014 | 536.2 | 544.6 | 508.4 | 458.7 |
| 2015 | 549.1 | 550.7 | 511.9 | 462.0 |
| 2016 | 554.6 | 541.4 | 511.1 | 460.4 |
| 2017 | 534.1 | 572.9 | 513.6 | 460.2 |
| 2018 | 539.9 | 545.8 | 507.7 | 460.0 |
| 2019 | 554.5 | 581.6 | 516.7 | 464.7 |
| 2020 | 482.8 | 520.3 | 458.4 | 423.2 |
Environmental context
Open the record layers separately.
These maps document places, materials, cleanups, and landscape change. They are linked for investigation, not drawn as causal overlays on the county health rates in this first release.
Main environmental mapIndustry, landfills, cleanup sites, PFAS, and documented waste locations →Radiological legacyFUSRAP, LOOW, Linde, uranium-processing history, and survey records →Changed waterways and fillFilled wetlands, altered channels, reclaimed shoreline, and historic aerial evidence →Documented airborne risksOfficially documented plumes, dates, limits, and source records →
Read before comparing
What these numbers can—and cannot—tell us
County averages hide local variation
A county rate does not describe every neighborhood. Smaller-area releases also require privacy protection and careful stability review.
Age adjustment is not full adjustment
Age-adjusted rates help compare populations with different age structures, but do not control for every demographic, behavioral, occupational, or clinical factor.
Periods must match
The county extract and current state/national references cover different years. They provide context, but should not be treated as a formal statistical test.
2020 is unusual
The pandemic disrupted screening and diagnosis. A drop in recorded incidence may reflect delayed detection rather than an immediate change in underlying disease.
Counts are not people at risk
Event counts show diagnoses or deaths recorded during a period. Rates use population denominators and are the appropriate starting point for geographic comparison.
Source ledger
Trace every number to the custodian.
New York State Cancer Registry
New York State Department of Health
County and state cancer incidence, mortality, stage, survival, and trends
April 2026; registry data currently available through 2023
Open official source ↗Community Health Indicator Reports: Latest Data
New York State Department of Health
Reproducible Erie and Niagara County rates and event counts used in this first release
Dataset updated March 25, 2026; cancer extract is 2018–2020, registry data as of October 2022
Open official source ↗Community Health Indicator Reports: Trend Data
New York State Department of Health
Annual county and New York State excluding New York City trend series
Cancer trend extract covers 2011–2020, registry data as of October 2022
Open official source ↗State Cancer Profiles: New York
National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
New York and United States reference rates by cancer site, including the annual U.S. all-cancer trend
Incidence references through 2022; this page displays the comparable 2011–2020 observed trend
Open official source ↗Historical Trends: United States, All Cancer Sites
National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Annual observed U.S. incidence rates for all cancer sites, all races, all ages, and both sexes
The WNYAtlas historical chart uses observed rates for 2011–2020
Open official source ↗About age-adjusted rates and confidence intervals
New York State Department of Health
Methodology, 2000 U.S. standard population, confidence intervals, and unstable-rate guidance
Methodology reference
Open official source ↗United States Cancer Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Official federal cancer incidence and mortality data and visualization tools
Incidence through 2022; mortality through 2023
Open official source ↗Birth Defect Prevalence: 1992–2022
New York State Department of Health Birth Defects Registry
Selected major birth defects by year, sex, and statewide region
Updated May 18, 2026; data through 2022
Open official source ↗U.S. Birth Defects Prevalence Estimates, 2018–2022
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National annual and pooled prevalence estimates for selected defects, including Trisomy 21
Published April 2026; the comparison uses the 2022 Trisomy 21 estimate
Open official source ↗Prevention Agenda Tracking Indicators: Subcounty Data
New York State Department of Health
ZIP-level childhood asthma emergency-department visit rates and event counts
Current public export; mapped period 2022–2024
Open official source ↗New York State Asthma Dashboard
New York State Department of Health
County and statewide childhood asthma emergency-department visit rates
Comparison period 2020–2022; SPARCS data as of July 2024
Open official source ↗Most Recent National Asthma Data
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National childhood asthma emergency-department visit rate from HCUP
National comparison year 2020
Open official source ↗County/ZIP Code Perinatal Data Profile
New York State Department of Health Vital Statistics Program
ZIP-level premature-birth and low-birthweight percentages with three-year birth denominators
Revised February 2026; mapped period 2021–2023
Open official source ↗County Health Indicators by Race and Ethnicity
New York State Department of Health
Published Erie, Niagara, and statewide premature-birth and low-birthweight totals
Comparison period 2021–2023
Open official source ↗Birthweight and Gestation
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Final national premature-birth and low-birthweight percentages
National comparison year 2023
Open official source ↗2025 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas Gazetteer
United States Census Bureau
Representative ZCTA internal points used to place ZIP-area records on the map
2025 Gazetteer release
Open official source ↗Childhood Blood Lead Testing and Elevated Incidence
New York State Department of Health
ZIP-level testing and first-time confirmed elevated blood-lead incidence
Updated May 14, 2026; mapped year 2024
Open official source ↗Childhood Blood Lead Surveillance: National Data
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National surveillance methods and the warning against state or county comparisons
Reviewed August 2026
Open official source ↗Safe Drinking Water Information System
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Public water-system identity, population served, compliance, violations, and enforcement records
EPA ECHO system-search extract published July 21, 2026
Open official source ↗SDWA Data Download Summary and Data Element Dictionary
United States Environmental Protection Agency ECHO
Definitions for active-system status, system type, service areas, and compliance fields
Current federal data dictionary reviewed August 2026
Open official source ↗Page prepared August 5, 2026. The Atlas will retain period-specific extracts so later updates can be audited rather than silently replacing earlier figures.
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