Most of Buffalo commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Working residents average 24 minutes each way (Wisconsin 22, U.S. 26). Buffalo has 64 jobs for 374 working residents. 8% of workers work from home (Wisconsin 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Buffalo: the gist
Many Buffalo workers cross into Minnesota
56% of Buffalo workers work outside Wisconsin, most of them in Minnesota, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Buffalo is a place people come home to
There are 64 jobs based in Buffalo, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Buffalo has about 430 people in it, 42% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Buffalo and Winona trade workers both ways
Winona is the top workplace for Buffalo residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Buffalo come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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 374 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
33% of working residents work in Winona
Where Buffalo clocks in
33% 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.
A workday in Buffalo: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 372 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 62 people come in from elsewhere.
About 430 people are in Buffalo on a workday afternoon, 42% fewer 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.
The kinds of work in Buffalo
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Buffalo, 2013 → 2023: 74 → 64. 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.
How long Buffalo spends getting to work: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Buffalo workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 347 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin: 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.
The distance from Buffalo to work
About 22% 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.
33% of Buffalo works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Buffalo workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo | – | — | — | 24 min | $83,500 |
| Dodge | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Trempealeau | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Cross | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Fountain City | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Dodge, Cross and Fountain City: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Trempealeau: the same community as the village of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Winona. 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?
$83,500 (±$16,077) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Buffalo?
5.9%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Buffalo?
24 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Buffalo work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Winona (33%, 4 mi), Arcadia (5%, 13 mi), Whitehall (5%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Buffalo without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% 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.