Work & commute · Buffalo

Work & commute in Buffalo, MN

Most working residents leave Buffalo for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Buffalo (22%), Minneapolis (6%) and Plymouth (4%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times
Work in town
2%
17 of 958 working residents
Typical commute
21 mi
Half commute less than this, straight-line
Average commute time
30 min
One way, from the Census survey
Work from home
11%
of workers, from the Census survey
Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 941 Buffalo residents head out of town to work, 17 work right here, and 304 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Buffalo.

941live here, work elsewhere
17live and work here
304work here, live elsewhere
Leave for workStayCome in
The map

Where Buffalo goes to work

Maple LakeRockfordMontroseAlbertvilleDelanoBuffaloMonticelloSt. Louis ParkSt. CloudEden PrairieMaple GroveSt. MichaelPlymouthMinneapolisMonticelloRockfordBuffaloMaple LakeBuffaloMinneapolisPlymouthEden PrairieMonticelloMaple GroveMaple LakeSt. Louis ParkSt. CloudDelanoBuffalo
1
Buffalo2.5 mi away
22%207
2
Minneapolis31.2 mi away
6%56
3
Plymouth20.9 mi away
4%35
4
Eden Prairie29.5 mi away
3%32
5
Monticello7.1 mi away
3%24
6
Maple Grove18.2 mi away
2%23
7
Maple Lake9.8 mi away
2%22
8
St. Louis Park27.8 mi away
2%22
9
St. Cloud28.7 mi away
2%20
10
Delano10.8 mi away
2%18
Everywhere elseother towns and states
52%499

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

How far

How far Buffalo commutes

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

34%Under 10 mi
24%10–24 mi
36%25–50 mi
7%Over 50 mi
Job hub or commuter town?

Buffalo is a commuter town

0.34jobs per working resident
A commuter town

0.34 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Buffalo are

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

Jobs based in Buffalo

321 jobs
Goods (factories, building, farms)17%
Trade, transport & utilities8%
Services (health, schools, offices…)75%
$1,250 a month or less16%
$1,251–$3,333 a month22%
Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs Buffalo residents hold

958 working residents
Goods (factories, building, farms)26%
Trade, transport & utilities21%
Services (health, schools, offices…)53%
$1,250 a month or less17%
$1,251–$3,333 a month17%
Over $3,333 a month66%
−13%

Jobs based in Buffalo, 2013 → 2023: 369 → 321. 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.

The door’s open

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Buffalo, MNWright CountyView boundary

Nearby

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Buffalo is your selected town. The feed includes posts assigned to this town, not a distance radius or ZIP code.

Neighborhoods narrow the feed further, while townwide announcements, events, and issues remain visible.

Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01