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Place dossier plate
SheetKS-BUFFALO-KS · Buffalo, KS 290 pop · income 48th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Buffalo
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Buffalo on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Mekoryuk · lowest
28,750
Mekoryuk · lowest
28,750 median HH income
18.8% of the leader · rank #1
Buffalo · this city
68,750
Buffalo · this city
68,750 median HH income
44.9% of the leader · rank #2
Buffalo Soaps… · near
68,750
Buffalo Soaps… · near
68,750 median HH income
44.9% of the leader · rank #3
Friendship · near
68,750
Friendship · near
68,750 median HH income
44.9% of the leader · rank #4
Garner · near
68,750
Garner · near
68,750 median HH income
44.9% of the leader · rank #5
Poyen · near
68,750
Poyen · near
68,750 median HH income
44.9% of the leader · rank #6
Elyria · highest
153,264
Elyria · highest
153,264 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Buffalo on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 290.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Buffalo lands in the 48th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
48th
percentile, household income
0th
percentile, home value
6th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Buffalo, KS
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 290 residents in Buffalo, a small town within Kansas. The typical household in Buffalo brings in $68,750 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 4.9%. Typical homes in Buffalo are valued around $35,800, and the median resident age is 34.2 years. 18.5% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 66.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 2 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Living costs in Kansas run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Kansas at 90.1 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $947 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Kansas run around $217, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 29.9 out of 100 (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Buffalo's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from housing and income to schools and households to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Buffalo, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Buffalo?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 0.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 18.5% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Which cities make useful reference points for Buffalo?
Within Kansas, the closest population matches are Turon (290 residents, $51,607 income); Elyria (291 residents, $153,264 income); Elbing (287 residents, $81,000 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Mekoryuk, AK (290 residents); Coalmont, IN (290 residents); Orestes, IN (290 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
What does the journey to work look like in Buffalo?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 92.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Population change
Is Buffalo growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -6 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.8% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
-2.8%
2025 estimate
209
2020 estimate
215
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Below median income · poverty 4.9% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.1 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Kansas average
C
City profile score · Buffalo, KS
58/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living A
90.1 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate B-
4.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income D
$68,750
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
18.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Buffalo profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.1 index
Poverty rate: 66/100 (B-) · 4.9%
Household income: 47/100 (D) · $68,750
Bachelor's+ share: 30/100 (F) · 18.5%
How does Buffalo compare to other US cities?
Where Buffalo sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income48% higher than other cities
Home value0% pricier than other cities
Median rent6% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Buffalo against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Kansas only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Kansas-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Buffalo near the bottom of Kansas's cities
Among the 552 Kansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Buffalo ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Buffalo only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#162 of 527
69th percentile in Kansas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 552
0th percentile in Kansas
Median Home Value
#501 of 527
5th percentile in Kansas
Poverty Rate
#346 of 552
36th percentile in Kansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#320 of 552
41st percentile in Kansas
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Kansas only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
48th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Buffalo's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$35,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 100% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Buffalo's home-value-to-income ratio: 0.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6 of 15,516
More affordable than 100% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 0.5×, Buffalo sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6 of 15,516 and #6 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$68,750Buffalo, KS median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Buffalo, KS median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Buffalo, KS.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)66.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
290
Median Income
$68,750
Median Home Value
$35,800
Median Age
34.2
Poverty Rate
4.9%
Labor force participation
66.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.5%
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Buffalo's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
215 residents
2021
215 residents
2022
215 residents
2023
212 residents
2024
210 residents
2025
209 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
92.5%
Carpool
2.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.7%
Work from Home
0.0%
Other
3.3%
Based on 120 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Kansas statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $217
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Kansas at $217 (electricity about $110 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are Kansas statewide averages, not a meter reading for Buffalo. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Kansas's BEA cost-of-living index is 90.1 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Buffalo is $947/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Kansas statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 29.9 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Kansas statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Buffalo sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Buffalo compares to similar-size Kansas cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.