| Porter | |
| Official Name: | Town of Porter |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Pushpin Map: | New York |
| Mapsize: | 260px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | New York |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Niagara |
| Government Type: | Town Council |
| Leader Title: | Town Supervisor |
| Leader Name: | John "Duffy" Johnston (R) |
| Leader Title1: | Town Council |
| Named For: | Augustus Porter |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 97.68 |
| Area Land Km2: | 85.61 |
| Area Water Km2: | 12.07 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 37.71 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 33.05 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 4.66 |
| Population As Of: | 2010 |
| Population Total: | 6771 |
| Population Density Km2: | 77.03 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 199.52 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Elevation M: | 93 |
| Elevation Ft: | 305 |
| Coordinates: | 43.2497°N -78.9981°W |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 36-59267 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 0979386 |
| Website: | https://www.townofporter.net |
| Pop Est As Of: | 2016 |
| Population Est: | 6595 |
Porter is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 6,771 at the 2010 census. The town was named after Judge Augustus Porter.
The Town of Porter lies in the northwest corner of Niagara County and is north of the City of Niagara Falls.
For thousands of years, the area was inhabited by various cultures of indigenous peoples. At the time of European encounter, this was the territory of the powerful Iroquois Confederacy, based in present-day New York state.
Permanent European-American settlement did not take place until after the American Revolution, about 1801, after most of the Iroquois had been forced to cede their lands to New York and had emigrated across the Niagara River to Upper Canada.
The Town of Porter was created in 1812 from the Town of Cambria, but further development was hindered by the War of 1812. The United States' war with Great Britain first included an embargo of trade with Canada, disrupting the local economy. Warfare along the border continued until 1814.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 37.7sqmi, of which, 33.2sqmi of it is land and 4.5sqmi of it (12.00%) is water.
The northern boundary of the town is Lake Ontario, and the Western boundary is the Niagara River, which is the international boundary between the United States and Canada. On that western side, the town borders the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, in Niagara Region, Ontario.
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 6,920 people, 2,616 households, and 1,935 families residing in the town. The population density was 208.3sp=usNaNsp=us. There were 2,846 housing units at an average density of 85.7sp=usNaNsp=us. The racial makeup of the town was 97.66% White, 0.48% African American, 0.77% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 0.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.66% of the population.
There were 2,616 households, out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.5% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.0% were non-families. 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.6% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $50,425, and the median income for a family was $60,373. Males had a median income of $41,985 versus $27,027 for females. The per capita income for the town was $23,951. About 2.2% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.5% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.