Work & commute · Buffalo Center

Work & commute in Buffalo Center, IA

Most working residents leave Buffalo Center for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Forest City (17%), Lake Mills (4%) and Titonka (4%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

44 of 336 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 292 Buffalo Center residents head out of town to work, 44 work right here, and 246 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Buffalo Center.

292live here, work elsewhere

44live and work here

246work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Buffalo Center goes to work

Forest City17.9 mi away

17%56

Buffalo Center (in town)right here

13%44

Lake Mills20.7 mi away

4%14

Titonka11.6 mi away

4%12

Mason City40.9 mi away

4%12

Algona26.1 mi away

3%9

Des Moines126.7 mi away

3%9

Britt21.3 mi away

2%8

Blue Earth, MN19.1 mi away

2%8

Thompson8.5 mi away

2%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%157

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Buffalo Center commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

21%

39%

15%

25%

21%Under 10 mi

39%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

25%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Buffalo Center is balanced between jobs and homes

0.86jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Buffalo Center are

290 jobs are based in Buffalo Center. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Buffalo Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Buffalo Center

290 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)2%

Trade, transport & utilities28%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month48%

Jobs Buffalo Center residents hold

336 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)46%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month50%

−16%

Jobs based in Buffalo Center, 2013 → 2023: 345 → 290. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.