Buffalo, NY (population: 267,037) has three occupational therapy assistant schools within its city limits. D'Youville College, the highest ranked school in the city with an occupational therapy assistant program, has a total student population of 2,971. It is the 502nd highest ranked school in the USA and the 36th highest in the state of New York (#1 is Columbia University in the City of New York).
Occupational Therapy Assistant students from Buffalo schools who go on to become occupational therapy assistants, medical assistants, medical office assistants, registered occupational therapists, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 26,680 people working as occupational therapist assistants alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $50,830. Also, Occupational therapist aides make on average $28,890 per year and there are about 8,040 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area alone, there are 30 employed occupational therapist aides earning an average salary of $31,910. Occupational therapist assistants in this area earn $36,970/yr and there are 310 employed.
Buffalo lies in Erie county, which is one of the 28 counties in New York. Overall, the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area has 534,300 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 0.9% unemployment rate, $19.69/hr average worker wage, and a $40,960 average annual salary. Thus, about 0.580 out of every 1000 jobs in Buffalo are held by occupational therapist assistants, and 0.057/1000 are held by occupational therapist aides.
Of the 3 occupational therapy assistant schools in Buffalo, only 2 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, D'Youville College comes out as the most expensive ($15,445/yr) for occupational therapy assistant students, with Erie Community College as the lowest, reported at only $3,003/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Buffalo |
| Hamburg | NY | - | 1 | 21.4078 | 25 | 12.1 miles |
| Niagara Falls | NY | 50,692 | 1 | 24.6139 | 10 | 16.0 miles |
| Angola | NY | - | 2 | 28.2192 | 69 | 19.4 miles |
| Rochester | NY | 205,236 | 21 | 30.9673 | 807 | 65.6 miles |
| Erie | PA | 103,895 | 10 | 28.3152 | 329 | 81.8 miles |