Work & commute · Buffalo Lake

Work & commute in Buffalo Lake, MN

Most working residents leave Buffalo Lake for work: only 14% work in town. The top destinations are Hutchinson (17%), Hector (5%) and Willmar (4%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

14%

47 of 345 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 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 298 Buffalo Lake residents head out of town to work, 47 work right here, and 583 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Buffalo Lake.

298live here, work elsewhere

47live and work here

583work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Buffalo Lake goes to work

Hutchinson15.6 mi away

17%60

Buffalo Lake (in town)right here

14%47

Hector4.7 mi away

5%16

Willmar34.2 mi away

4%14

Olivia18.9 mi away

2%8

St. Paul75.6 mi away

2%7

Litchfield27 mi away

2%6

Chaska49.7 mi away

2%6

Redwood Falls27.2 mi away

1%5

Waconia41.2 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

50%171

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

How far

How far Buffalo Lake commutes

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

23%

28%

21%

28%

23%Under 10 mi

28%10–24 mi

21%25–50 mi

28%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Buffalo Lake is a job hub

1.83jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Buffalo Lake are

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

Jobs based in Buffalo Lake

630 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)42%

Trade, transport & utilities29%

Services (health, schools, offices…)29%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Buffalo Lake residents hold

345 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)36%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)43%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month55%

+59%

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.

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.