Work, pay and getting to work in Buffalo Center
About one in seven stay in Buffalo Center for work; outside it, Forest City is the main destination (17%, 18 miles). 2% of workers work from home, where Iowa as a whole has 11%. The average commute, 20 minutes each way, matches the Iowa norm.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Buffalo Center, in a few figures
The daily trip from Buffalo Center: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Buffalo Center workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 376 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across Iowa: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who works in Buffalo Center, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 292 residents head out to work, 44 work right here, and 246 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where people from Buffalo Center work
Where Buffalo Center clocks in
17% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The kinds of work in Buffalo Center
290 jobs are based in Buffalo Center.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Buffalo Center, 2013 → 2023: 345 → 290. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Buffalo Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Buffalo Center
About 25% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Buffalo Center: questions
What is the median household income in Buffalo Center?
$52,917 (±$20,511) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Buffalo Center?
8.2%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Buffalo Center?
20 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Buffalo Center work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Forest City (17%, 18 mi), Lake Mills (4%, 21 mi), Titonka (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Buffalo Center without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Buffalo Center, from the people who make the trip.
More of Buffalo Center
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.