Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Households in Buffalo have lower incomes than those in 88% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 26.0% of residents, next to 14.0% for New York as a whole. About two in five stay in Buffalo for work; outside it, Amherst is the main destination (13%, 10 miles). The trip to work takes 20 minutes on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Buffalo apart
Commutes from Buffalo are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
A lot of Buffalo works one town over
29% of working residents work in a town that borders Buffalo: Amherst (13%), Cheektowaga (8%) and Tonawanda (5%). Next door ↓
The jobs in Buffalo pay better than its residents’ jobs
67% of the jobs based in Buffalo pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 51% of the jobs Buffalo residents hold. 71% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Buffalo. 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.
The four measures behind Buffalo’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Buffalo is better than 23% of U.S. towns, #630 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Buffalo’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Buffalo could be anywhere from C− to C.
About 20 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Buffalo workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 107,110 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
67% of the jobs in Buffalo pay over $3,333 a month
136,768 jobs are based in Buffalo.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Buffalo, 2013 → 2023: 131,955 → 136,768. 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.
Who leaves Buffalo for work, and who comes in
On a workday 54,444 residents head out to work, 39,608 work right here, and 97,160 people come in from elsewhere.
About 317,000 people are in Buffalo on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.45 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 Buffalo’s working residents head each day
Where Buffalo clocks in
13% of workers
5% 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.
How far Buffalo’s workers travel
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.
Buffalo is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 120,738 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 77% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 12.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 95% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 22.6% of Buffalo households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 9% of Buffalo’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
U.S. towns of 192,000 to 371,000, and where Buffalo sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 3 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| 4 | Huntington NY | 205,891 | $168K | 5.0% | 4.3% | 23% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Newark NJ | 323,808 | $52K | 23.4% | 11.6% | 25% | C− |
| 86 | Fayetteville NC | 209,120 | $58K | 17.7% | 7.9% | 43% | C− |
| 87 | Buffalo NY | 274,613 | $50K | 26.0% | 7.3% | 42% | C− |
| 88 | Rochester NY | 206,108 | $47K | 27.8% | 7.9% | 42% | C− |
| 89 | Brownsville TX | 192,957 | $52K | 23.7% | 6.2% | 54% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Cleveland OH | 363,608 | $41K | 30.6% | 10.8% | 42% | C− |
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 New York.
Bordering towns draw 29% of Buffalo’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Buffalo workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo | – | C− | A+ | 20 min | $50,041 |
| Cheektowaga | 8% | B | A | 20 min | $69,239 |
| Eggertsville | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| West Seneca | 3% | B+ | B | 23 min | $79,709 |
| Amherst | 13% | A− | A− | 20 min | $93,483 |
| Lackawanna | under 2% | C− | A | 20 min | $52,110 |
| Tonawanda | 5% | B+ | A | 21 min | $77,673 |
| Tonawanda Town | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Sloan | under 2% | B+ | A | 19 min | $72,214 |
Same-state neighbors only. Eggertsville and Tonawanda Town: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Amherst. 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?
$50,041 (±$1,988) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Buffalo?
26.0%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Buffalo?
20 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Buffalo work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Amherst (13%, 10 mi), Cheektowaga (8%, 6 mi), Tonawanda (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Buffalo walkable?
Buffalo is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.6 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Buffalo without a car?
9% of commuters take transit and 23% of households have no car. 77% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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.