Amherst is a town in Erie County, New York, and a suburb of Buffalo, with a population of 129,595 at the 2020 census. The town was created on April 10, 1818, from part of the town of Buffalo and is named after Lord Jeffrey Amherst. It covers 53.6 square miles in the northern part of the county, bordered on the north by Tonawanda Creek, with Ellicott Creek flowing through it and a section of the Erie Canal along its edge. Amherst includes the village of Williamsville and the hamlets of Eggertsville, Getzville, Snyder, Swormville and East Amherst, and is home to the north campus of the University at Buffalo.