Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,685, settled in 1837. Public schools that outperform most of Michigan.
Trash day: WednesdayNew Buffalo’s best subject grades are an A+ for schools and an A for walkability and the outdoors; its weakest is a C− for cost of living. New Buffalo’s violent crime rate is 6.5 per 1,000 residents, above both Michigan’s towns (1.9) and U.S. towns (1.6). On walkability, just 47 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better. New Buffalo’s trail density is 1.6 miles per square mile, against 0.3 in Michigan’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. On the outdoors, just 93 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Louis J. Sima Great Lakes Marsh, at 143 acres. New Buffalo has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where New Buffalo beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| New Buffalo Middle School | 6–8 | 133 |
| New Buffalo Senior High School | 9–12 | 172 |
Where New Buffalo’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far New Buffalo is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 683 in 1870, a peak of 2,821 in 1980, 1,708 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 2 maps from 1970 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in New Buffalo, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in New Buffalo.
The typical New Buffalo home is worth about $672,000, up 8% in a year, more than twice the Michigan typical home.
| New Buffalo | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 77% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,042 a month | $1,046 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the New Buffalo Area Schools. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Buffalo Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 133 | A |
| New Buffalo Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 172 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave New Buffalo for work: only 17% work in town. The average trip to work in New Buffalo is 21 minutes. Jobs based in New Buffalo fell to 863 in 2021, 130 fewer than in 2011.
| New Buffalo | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 77% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
New Buffalo beats the Michigan average on 11 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 28% of adults feel lonely in New Buffalo.
| New Buffalo | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 16% |
| What stands out | New Buffalo | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.6% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.5% | 11.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.9% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
New Buffalo has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 19° and about 65 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
4.0 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Louis J. Sima Great Lakes Marsh, at 143 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. New Buffalo City Park | 1 mi | 21 |
| 2. Louis J. Sima Great Lakes Marsh | — | 143 |
| 3. Merganser Point | — | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
New Buffalo’s property crime rate is 4.7 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around New Buffalo. Close and well known come first.
Big draw27 mi Stadium & arenaNotre Dame Stadium
10 mi National ParkIndiana Dunes National Park2.6M visitors a year
39 mi MuseumMascot Hall of Fame
12 mi State parkWarren Dunes State Park
27 mi CaveGrotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Notre Dame
25 mi Ancient siteFort St. JosephNotre Dame Stadium: Tysto, Public domain · Indiana Dunes National Park: J. Crocker, Attribution · Mascot Hall of Fame: No machine-readable author provided. JGlover assumed (based on copyright claims), CC BY-SA 2.5 · Warren Dunes State Park: hakkun, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Notre Dame: Know1one1, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort St. Joseph: Chris Light (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0
None within 15 miles of New Buffalo; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 New Buffalo residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
City in Michigan, United States
New Buffalo is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,708 during the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with New Buffalo.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Buffalo | — | — | C− | B | A+ | B+ |
| New Buffalo Township | #333 | B | C− | — | A+ | B |
New Buffalo has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. New Buffalo Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare New Buffalo with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Public schools that outperform most of Michigan.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
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