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Place dossier plate
SheetMN-BUFFALO-MN · Buffalo, MN 16,388 pop · income 69th pct · 27 tracts
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
Brownsville · lowest
38,460
Brownsville · lowest
38,460 median HH income
17.2% of the leader · rank #1
Buffalo · this city
88,306
Buffalo · this city
88,306 median HH income
39.5% of the leader · rank #2
New Franklin · near
88,306
New Franklin · near
88,306 median HH income
39.5% of the leader · rank #3
Port Aransas · near
88,311
Port Aransas · near
88,311 median HH income
39.5% of the leader · rank #4
South Miami · near
88,313
South Miami · near
88,313 median HH income
39.5% of the leader · rank #5
Elgin · near
88,316
Elgin · near
88,316 median HH income
39.5% of the leader · rank #6
Vienna · highest
223,571
Vienna · highest
223,571 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Buffalo on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 16,388.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Buffalo - the verdict
Nationally, Buffalo sits in the 69th percentile for household income and the 86th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
69th
percentile, household income
62nd
percentile, home value
36th
percentile, median rent
86th
percentile, safety
📝 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, MN
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 16,388 residents in Buffalo, a small town within Minnesota. Households in Buffalo report a median income of $88,306 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 4.7%. Buffalo's housing stock carries a median value of $281,900, and the median resident age is 38.7 years. 30.8% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 64.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 71 residential building permits were authorized in Buffalo (Construction Slowdown), down 64% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Buffalo reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 475.1 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 43.8°F with 31.7 inches of precipitation per year and 39.8 inches of snowfall.
Minnesota tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Minnesota at 98.6 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Near Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,125 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Minnesota's average monthly utility costs around $225 (state average). The average commute for Buffalo workers runs 24.9 minutes, with 79.2% driving alone and 11.0% working from home. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 42.4 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (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 climate and hazard context to reported crime to within-city variation 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, within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Buffalo?
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. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 43.8°F, with 31.7 inches of precipitation and 39.8 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Minnesota is 42.4 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
PlainCities matches 27 Census tracts to this city.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
Which cities make useful reference points for Buffalo?
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Minnesota, the closest population matches are Ham Lake (16,575 residents, $116,845 income); Red Wing (16,660 residents, $65,259 income); Hibbing (16,100 residents, $55,463 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Brownsville, FL (16,391 residents); Mastic Beach, NY (16,382 residents); Port Orchard, WA (16,398 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.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Buffalo?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 475.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 79% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
475.1
Violent rate
54.1
Property rate
421.0
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 14 public schools within the city match. 30.8% 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.
Poverty estimate
4.7%
Bachelor's degree+
30.8%
Matched public schools
14
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What does the journey to work look like in Buffalo?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 79.2%. The reported mean trip to work is 24.9 minutes.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
79.2%
Work from home
11.0%
Public transit
0.2%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 8,107 workers age 16+.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +598 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 71 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
2020 estimate
16,280
2025 estimate
16,878
Period change
+3.7%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Above median income · poverty 4.7% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
98.6 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
B-
City profile score · Buffalo, MN
65/100
5 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.
Violent crime A-
54 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income B-
$88,306
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate B-
4.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C
30.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living D
98.6 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Buffalo profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 83/100 (A-) · 54 /100k
Household income: 68/100 (B-) · $88,306
Poverty rate: 67/100 (B-) · 4.7%
Bachelor's+ share: 59/100 (C) · 30.8%
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index
Where Buffalo sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Buffalo's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Buffalo highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Buffalo, MN (this city): home $281,900, crime 475/100k
Port Orchard, WA : home $492,000, crime 3,286/100k
Dyer, IN : home $288,700, crime 356/100k
Vienna, VA : home $961,100, crime 910/100k
Crawfordsville, IN : home $134,100, crime 828/100k
Red Wing, MN : home $224,800, crime 2,355/100k
Hibbing, MN : home $123,900, crime 729/100k
Bemidji, MN : home $189,500, crime 5,400/100k
Anoka, MN : home $292,900, crime 1,432/100k
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 income69% higher than other cities
Home value62% pricier than other cities
Median rent36% pricier than other cities
Safety86% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Minnesota and the picture shifts: Buffalo ranks #66 of 229 Minnesota cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Buffalo against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Minnesota only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Minnesota-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Buffalo near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota 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
#197 of 775
75th percentile in Minnesota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Median Home Value
#169 of 774
78th percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#448 of 785
42nd percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#197 of 784
75th percentile in Minnesota
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 Minnesota only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
69th percentile nationally for median household income · 86th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Buffalo's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Buffalo's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Buffalo's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$281,90038th percentilemore affordable than 38% 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: 3.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,653 of 15,516
More affordable than 51% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,157 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.2×, Buffalo sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,653 of 15,516 and #1,157 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$88,306Buffalo, MN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Buffalo, MN 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, MN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)30.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)64.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
16,388
Median Income
$88,306
Median Home Value
$281,900
Median Age
38.7
Poverty Rate
4.7%
Labor force participation
64.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
30.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
475.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
54.1
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
421.0
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
43.8°F
Annual Precipitation
31.7"
Annual Snowfall
39.8"
Schools
Total Schools
14
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
16,280 residents
2021
16,454 residents
2022
16,526 residents
2023
16,559 residents
2024
16,737 residents
2025
16,878 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
71
housing units authorized
Single-Family
71
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
4.3
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
200
48
152
$34.3M
2020
82
82
0
$22.0M
2021
80
80
0
$22.7M
2022
34
34
0
$11.2M
2023
68
68
0
$20.9M
2024
71
71
0
$21.0M
Permit volume decreased 64% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
24.9 minutes
Drive Alone
79.2%
Carpool
7.4%
Public Transit
0.2%
Walk
0.9%
Work from Home
11.0%
Other
1.3%
Based on 8,107 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Minnesota statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $225
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Minnesota at $225 (electricity about $95 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Minnesota 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
Minnesota's BEA cost-of-living index is 98.6 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Buffalo is $1,125/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Minnesota statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 42.4 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, 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.