Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,733, settled in 1879. 2.5 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Wyoming town.
Buffalo grades B overall, 13th among Wyoming's 28 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. It is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns and it has 9 miles of trail and 32% conserved land. On the other side, the median household income is $63K, and 10% of residents live below the poverty line. 32% of the land in Buffalo is conserved, against 8.2% in Wyoming’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. On safety, just 2 of Wyoming’s 23 towns do better. Buffalo has 11 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Fort McKinney and EDL Peloux Bridge.
Where Buffalo beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,087 in 1890, a low of 710 in 1900, 4,415 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1899 and 2 maps from 1900 on.
11 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wyoming), ordered by how far Buffalo is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in 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 Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Buffalo.
Buffalo fares better on crime within Wyoming than nationally and has a shorter frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns, but it is a long drive from an emergency room.
Its 941 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 88% of Wyoming towns.
That puts Buffalo where Wyoming’s towns sit at 1.2 and U.S. towns at 0.4. 9.2 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Buffalo City Park, at 20 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Buffalo City Park | 0.4 mi | 20 |
| 2. Prosinski Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Johnson County School District #1. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Buffalo High School, with 317 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clear Creek Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 240 | A |
| Buffalo High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 317 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WY on state tests and graduation
31% of residents are 65 or older in Buffalo. Buffalo has grown 6.9% since 2020, to 4,733 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. The median age in Buffalo is 48 years.
| Buffalo | Wyoming towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 31% | 16% | 18% |
| Median age | 48 years | 37.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 18% | 24% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 30% | 23% | 29% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.2 points. Across Wyoming, 48.9% of residents are women.
| Buffalo | WY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.5% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7% | 10.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.2% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.1% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 7.9% | 11.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.8% | 12.7% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 18.5% | 11.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.8% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.7% | 5.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.4% | 27.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 29.7% | 24.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.2% | 11.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.4% | 19.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.6% | 11.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,700, single groups can be off by several points
At 10.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 94% of Wyoming’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Buffalo weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 118 days, shorter than in 98% of U.S. towns.
Buffalo has cold, snowy winters and warm summers, with very little rain. Buffalo’s July high is 84°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here fell from 2,385 in 2013 to 1,890.
43% of Buffalo’s working residents work right in town. Jobs based in Buffalo fell to 1,890 in 2023, 495 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Sheridan (8%), Gillette (4%) and Casper (2%).
| Buffalo | Wyoming towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 43% | 51% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 13 minutes | 15 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 6.3 years of the county’s $65K median household income, the typical home (about $412K) costs more against local pay than in 88% of Wyoming towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living.
The typical Buffalo home is worth about $412,000, up 1.7% in a year, 12% above the Wyoming typical home. 79% of Buffalo households own their home.
| Buffalo | Wyoming towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 79% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,019 a month | $925 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The nearest emergency room, Sheridan Memorial Hospital, is 34.9 miles away in a straight line. Against the 9,534 U.S. towns with household incomes like Buffalo’s, it is healthier than 63%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Buffalo beats the Wyoming average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 10. Only 2 of the 28 Wyoming towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than Buffalo.
| Buffalo | Wyoming towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 68% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 31% | 35% |
| What stands out | Buffalo | WY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 77.5% | 73% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 17.2% | 12.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 53% of U.S. communities. Since 1997, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Buffalo.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Buffalo; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Buffalo residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wyoming.
11 places in Buffalo on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Buffalo.
City in Wyoming, United States
Buffalo is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 4,415 at the 2020 census, down from 4,585 at the 2010 census. The city had experienced an economic boom due to methane production from the coal bed methane extraction method used in the Powder River Basin and surrounding areas. With the decline of methane production, Buffalo's population has stabilized since the 2010 Census. Even though energy is a vital part of its economy, agriculture, tourism, and recreation are three other major components. Buffalo is located at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains. The city is located almost equidistant between Yellowstone National Park and Mount Rushmor…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Buffalo grades B overall, better than 56% of U.S. towns and #13 of 28 in Wyoming. It grades C+ for health, B+ for safety and B+ for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 6.3 years of the area's median household income ($64,871 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
5 notable people were born here, including Sherman Todd and Jamie Flitner.
