Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0Where Buffalo earns its living
Household incomes here are lower than in 59% of U.S. towns. Buffalo grades C+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability. The average commute takes 29 minutes each way, where Iowa has 20 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Buffalo stands out on work
Buffalo and Davenport trade workers both ways
Davenport is the top workplace for Buffalo residents (35%) and also where the most people who work in Buffalo come from (25% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Buffalo makes and builds things
44% of the jobs based in Buffalo are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Buffalo residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
Buffalo workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 455 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Buffalo
On income, poverty and job access, Buffalo is better than 38% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Buffalo’s grade up (ahead of 66% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (18.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (2.1%) is left out: Buffalo’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Buffalo could be anywhere from C− to B+.
35% of working residents work in Davenport
Where Buffalo clocks in
35% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 44% of the jobs in Buffalo
531 jobs are based in Buffalo.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Buffalo, 2013 → 2023: 441 → 531. 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’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Iowa
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Buffalo workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 518 commuters (the 5% 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 leaves Buffalo for work, and who comes in
On a workday 450 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 526 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 (1.17 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.
Buffalo’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Most of Buffalo commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Buffalo is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.4% across Iowa.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 548 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.0% of Buffalo households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Buffalo’s commuters take a bus or train.
Buffalo is 1,751st of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Gilbert IA | 1,389 | $123K | 3.4% | 4.1% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,749 | Tuscarora Township PA | 1,349 | $84K | 8.4% | 4.5% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,750 | Wayne Township PA | 1,009 | $79K | 7.2% | 9.8% | <1% | C+ |
| 1,751 | Buffalo IA | 1,146 | $70K | 18.8% | 2.1% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,752 | Worthington KY | 1,447 | $66K | 12.0% | 3.0% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,753 | Clear Lake SD | 1,220 | $85K | 9.8% | 3.8% | 28% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Buffalo, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
Buffalo and its neighbors: 35% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Davenport. Darker towns draw more of Buffalo’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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: questions
What is the median household income in Buffalo?
$69,728 (±$18,221) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Buffalo?
18.8%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Buffalo?
29 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Buffalo work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Davenport (35%, 11 mi), Rock Island (6%, 10 mi), Walcott (6%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Buffalo walkable?
Buffalo is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Buffalo without a car?
<1% 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, from the people who make the trip.
More of Buffalo
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.