Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0A job hub: Buffalo Lake has 1.8 jobs per working resident, and 583 people come in to work
About one in seven work in Buffalo Lake itself; outside it, Hutchinson draws the most (17%, 16 miles). Buffalo Lake has 630 jobs; 345 of its residents have a job. 8% of workers have no commute at all, against 18% across Minnesota.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Buffalo Lake, in a few figures
Buffalo Lake is where the jobs are
Buffalo Lake has 630 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 920 people are in town, 45% more than the 640 who live here. Day and night ↓
Buffalo Lake and Hutchinson trade workers both ways
Hutchinson is the top workplace for Buffalo Lake residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Buffalo Lake come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Buffalo Lake has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Buffalo Lake went from 396 in 2013 to 630 in 2023, +59%. The jobs ↓
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 345 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Buffalo Lake on a workday afternoon
On a workday 298 residents head out to work and 47 work right here.
About 920 people are in Buffalo Lake on a workday afternoon, 45% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Who travels to work in Buffalo Lake, and from where
Where Buffalo Lake 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.
In Buffalo Lake, 42% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Buffalo Lake, 2013 → 2023: 396 → 630. 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 Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Buffalo Lake, about 29 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Buffalo Lake workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 197 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Minnesota: 84% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far Buffalo Lake’s workers travel
About 28% 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.
Next door to Buffalo Lake
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Buffalo Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Lake | – | — | — | 29 min | $66,167 |
| Preston Lake Township | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Preston Lake Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Buffalo Lake’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 Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Buffalo Lake?
$66,167 (±$5,539) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Buffalo Lake?
20.1%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Buffalo Lake?
29 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Buffalo Lake work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hutchinson (17%, 16 mi), Hector (5%, 5 mi), Willmar (4%, 34 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Buffalo Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Buffalo Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Buffalo Lake
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.