Best PlacesBuffalo, OK 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. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Buffalo ranks 22,505th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
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
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- Short commute17.7 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of towns
Where Buffalo ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Buffalo
A household needs to earn about $24,000 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 $74,417, 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 0.70%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
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 public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Buffalo
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Buffalo.
What the weather is like in Buffalo, month by month
Buffalo sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 35° | 25° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 45° |
| July | 93° | 80° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Buffalo
The nearest airport, Dodge City Regional, is about 66 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 310 miles away.
The best schools in and around Buffalo
Schools across Buffalo average a D+, better than 13% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Buffalo EsD+ · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Buffalo HsD+ · 25% 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.
Common questions about living in Buffalo
Is Buffalo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buffalo ranks 22,505th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, a stable housing market, and walkability, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. 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 $92,400. The overall cost of living runs about 27% below the national average. Set against a $74,417 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Buffalo safe?
Buffalo is safer than 16% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $579 per resident a year.
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.