Best PlacesBuffalo, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buffalo, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Buffalo ranks 11,325th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Buffalo
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's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buffalo ranks high
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
Where Buffalo ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,079 a month, better than only 20% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Buffalo
A household needs to earn about $92,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buffalo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $95,885, 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's effective rate of 1.04%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Buffalo
Buffalo's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Buffalo.
Who works in Buffalo, and how
Work in Buffalo centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Buffalo
Buffalo has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of towns and more parkland per resident than 87% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Buffalo and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Buffalo, month by month
Buffalo sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 16° | 9° |
| April | 54° | 43° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Buffalo
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 38 miles away.
The best schools in and around Buffalo
Schools across Buffalo average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Delano ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Northwinds ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Pinewood ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Delano Intermediate SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Rockford MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Buffalo Community MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Delano High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Monticello Senior HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Buffalo Senior HighB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buffalo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buffalo 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Buffalo suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of towns and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 85% of towns and health care access beats 74%.
Common questions about living in Buffalo
Is Buffalo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buffalo ranks 11,325th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, state infrastructure, and cell coverage, and lowest on noise and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buffalo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $339,769. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $95,885 median income, cost of living beats 85% of towns.
Is Buffalo safe?
Buffalo is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $517 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Buffalo?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 24 with lows near 9. That works out to about 131 pleasant days a year, more than 85% of towns.
Is Buffalo good for families?
Schools beat 77% of towns, crime safety beats 18%, and childcare runs $1,079 a month.
Compare Buffalo with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buffalo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buffalo 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buffalo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buffalo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buffalo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buffalo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buffalo 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.