The largest and most populous suburb of Buffalo, New York, the Town of Amherst encompasses most of the Village of Williamsville and the hamlets of Eggertsville, Getzville, Snyder, Swormville, and East Amherst. The town is in the northern part of the county and borders a small section of the Erie Canal.
Amherst is home of the Amherst campus of the State University of New York at Buffalo, the graduate campus of Medaille College, a campus of Bryant and Stratton College, and Daemen College. Millard Filmore Suburban Hospital is located in the center of town on Maple Road.
As of the census of 2000, there were 116,510 people, 45,076 households, and 29,885 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,188.1 people per square mile (844.8/km²). There were 46,803 housing units at an average density of 879.0/sq mi (339.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 89.28% White, 3.90% African American, 0.13% Native American, 5.22% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.37% from other races, and 1.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.36% of the population.
There were 45,076 households out of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.7% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the town the population was spread out with 22.2% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 89.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.2 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $55,427, and the median income for a family was $68,951. Males had a median income of $51,667 versus $32,030 for females. The per capita income for the town was $27,647. About 4.2% of families and 6.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.
47.4% of residents (aged 25 and over) have obtained a Bachelor's degree or higher, including 22.6% with a Graduate or professional degree.