Buffalo, SD population, income and ZIP codes

Buffalo town is a very small community in South Dakota, with 282 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #204 of 485 ranked by population — larger than 58% of them. The median age here is 54.6 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in Buffalo town earn a median of $81,607 a year, 3.9% above the national figure of $78,538 and 25% above the $65,500 median for the 79 South Dakota cities we cover. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 6% of residents here, less than half the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Buffalo town is valued at $112,500, 62.9% below the national figure and 42% below the $192,800 peer median, while median gross rent runs $583 a month, 58.5% below the national figure, or roughly $6,996 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 8.6% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 1.4×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so purchase prices are unusually low against local pay, the pattern in places where supply is plentiful and wage growth has been flat. 77.6% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

A median age of 54.6 puts Buffalo town well into retirement-weighted territory, which pulls median household income down even where household wealth is high, because retirement draws are counted differently from wages. With 282 residents, a handful of survey responses moves every median on this page. Compare Buffalo town against its county rather than against national figures.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.