Best PlacesBuffalo Lake, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buffalo Lake, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Buffalo Lake ranks 20,381st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Buffalo Lake
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Buffalo Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buffalo Lake ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 116 pleasant days a year, better than 78% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 74% of towns
- School gradeB, better than 70% of towns
Where Buffalo Lake ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 22% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Buffalo Lake
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buffalo Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,568, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Buffalo Lake's effective rate of 1.08%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Buffalo Lake
Buffalo Lake runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Buffalo Lake.
Who works in Buffalo Lake, and how
Work in Buffalo Lake centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Buffalo Lake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Buffalo Lake.
What the weather is like in Buffalo Lake, month by month
Buffalo Lake sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 16° | 9° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 60° | 48° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Buffalo Lake
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 62 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 69 miles away.
The best schools in and around Buffalo Lake
Schools across Buffalo Lake average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Buffalo Lake-hector ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Gfw Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hutchinson MiddleA− · 52% proficient
- Bold Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Hutchinson Senior HighB+ · 56% proficient
- Gfw High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Buffalo Lake-hector SecondaryC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buffalo Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buffalo Lake measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Buffalo Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Buffalo Lake
Is Buffalo Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buffalo Lake ranks 20,381st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, walkability, and the weather, and lowest on civic engagement and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buffalo Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $180,665. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $73,568 median income, cost of living beats 56% of towns.
Is Buffalo Lake safe?
Yes, Buffalo Lake is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $237 per resident a year.
Compare Buffalo Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buffalo Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buffalo Lake represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Buffalo Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buffalo Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buffalo Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buffalo Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buffalo Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buffalo Lake detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.