Buffalo, New York demographics

Buffalo, NY demographics: median age 34.3; 31.2% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Buffalo city, New York · Incorporated city · GEOID 3611000. The survey estimates a population of 276,854 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Buffalo is 34.3 years, with a 90% margin of error of 0.5 years. There are 119,630 households (±1,553). Age and household distributions show how these totals are composed; they do not establish which neighborhood suits a particular person.

Every count and share is an estimate. “±” is a 90% margin of error (MOE); pp means percentage points. Derived shares use the category count divided by the named universe. Aggregated category MOEs and percentage MOEs are approximate. A margin larger than half its estimate is flagged as low precision. Blank source uncertainty is shown as unavailable, never zero.

Age distribution and sex

City, state and U.S. estimates · ACS 2020–2024
Measure / survey universe	City estimate ± MOE	State estimate ± MOE	U.S. estimate ± MOE
Median age Total population · years	34.3 ±0.5	39.8 ±0.1	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 276,854
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New York	U.S.
Under 18	61,801 ±1,720	22.3% ±0.6 pp	20.5%	22.0%
18–34	79,376 ±2,164	28.7% ±0.8 pp	23.1%	22.8%
35–64	96,398 ±2,343	34.8% ±0.8 pp	38.5%	38.0%
65 and older	39,279 ±1,474	14.2% ±0.5 pp	17.9%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 276,854
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New York	U.S.
Male	132,086 ±1,332	47.7% ±0.5 pp	48.8%	49.5%
Female	144,768 ±1,336	52.3% ±0.5 pp	51.2%	50.5%

The age groups are mutually exclusive and cover the entire population. The sex categories follow this ACS table’s published classification; they are not a survey of gender identity.

Race and Hispanic origin

Race · B02001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 276,854
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New York	U.S.
White alone	122,709 ±2,446	44.3% ±0.9 pp	55.2%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	89,107 ±2,388	32.2% ±0.9 pp	14.4%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	1,233 ±247	0.4% ±0.1 pp	0.6%	0.9%
Asian alone	24,364 ±1,560	8.8% ±0.6 pp	9.1%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	14 ±20 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	0.0%	0.2%
Some other race alone	14,571 ±1,415	5.3% ±0.5 pp	10.4%	7.1%
Two or more races	24,856 ±2,246	9.0% ±0.8 pp	10.3%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 276,854
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New York	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	242,867 ±1,262	87.7% ±0.5 pp	80.2%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	33,987 ±1,263	12.3% ±0.5 pp	19.8%	19.3%

Hispanic origin and race are separate questions. People of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race and appear in both tables. Do not add the Hispanic share to race shares. Race alone and two-or-more-race groups are the mutually exclusive categories of the race table.

Household types, children and living alone

Household types · B11001 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 119,630
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New York	U.S.
Married-couple family	28,833 ±1,072	24.1% ±0.8 pp	42.5%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	6,005 ±661	5.0% ±0.5 pp	5.2%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	23,462 ±1,157	19.6% ±0.9 pp	13.7%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	48,716 ±1,598	40.7% ±1.2 pp	31.1%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	12,614 ±902	10.5% ±0.7 pp	7.6%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 119,630
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New York	U.S.
Households with people under 18	30,927 ±1,085	25.9% ±0.8 pp	27.3%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	88,703 ±1,783	74.1% ±1.1 pp	72.7%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 119,630
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New York	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	48,716 ±1,598	40.7% ±1.2 pp	31.1%	28.7%
Two-person households	35,224 ±1,465	29.4% ±1.2 pp	31.5%	33.8%
Three-person households	15,051 ±1,140	12.6% ±0.9 pp	15.5%	15.3%
Four-person households	10,784 ±861	9.0% ±0.7 pp	12.4%	12.6%
Five-person households	5,752 ±564	4.8% ±0.5 pp	5.6%	5.9%
Six-person households	2,343 ±414	2.0% ±0.3 pp	2.2%	2.2%
Seven or more people	1,760 ±367	1.5% ±0.3 pp	1.7%	1.4%

A family household contains related people under the Census definition. A nonfamily household can contain one person or unrelated people sharing a home. Households with children can also appear in the household-type and size tables, so those tables must not be added together. Household estimates exclude people living in group quarters from the household universe.

Nativity and languages spoken at home

Nativity · B05002 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 276,854
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New York	U.S.
Native	246,712 ±1,791	89.1% ±0.6 pp	77.2%	85.9%
Foreign born	30,142 ±1,788	10.9% ±0.6 pp	22.8%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 260,108
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New York	U.S.
English only	210,102 ±2,662	80.8% ±1.0 pp	69.1%	77.7%
Spanish	17,610 ±1,182	6.8% ±0.5 pp	14.8%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	1,726 ±547	0.7% ±0.2 pp	1.5%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	596 ±271	0.2% ±0.1 pp	1.5%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	1,052 ±310	0.4% ±0.1 pp	2.0%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	13,382 ±1,247	5.1% ±0.5 pp	4.0%	2.0%
Korean	290 ±131	0.1% ±0.1 pp	0.5%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	1,293 ±498	0.5% ±0.2 pp	3.2%	1.1%
Vietnamese	587 ±337 · low precision	0.2% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.1%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	310 ±212 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	4,822 ±734	1.9% ±0.3 pp	0.9%	1.1%
Arabic	2,940 ±756	1.1% ±0.3 pp	0.7%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	5,398 ±1,300	2.1% ±0.5 pp	1.3%	0.8%

Foreign born means not a U.S. citizen at birth; it includes naturalized citizens. Language categories describe speech at home among people age five and older. A language other than English at home does not establish that someone cannot speak English. This city page uses the published C16001 summary categories because the more detailed B16001 table does not provide these city records in this release.

Educational attainment

Highest completed education · B15003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 25 and older: 184,827
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New York	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	24,027 ±1,349	13.0% ±0.7 pp	12.0%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	49,903 ±2,006	27.0% ±1.1 pp	24.3%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	35,439 ±1,854	19.2% ±1.0 pp	14.6%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	17,814 ±1,281	9.6% ±0.7 pp	8.8%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	31,451 ±1,668	17.0% ±0.9 pp	22.4%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	26,193 ±1,367	14.2% ±0.7 pp	17.9%	14.1%

The denominator excludes residents under 25. Each person is counted in the highest attainment category they completed. This table does not measure the quality of local schools or the education level of every current student.

Residence one year earlier

Geographic mobility · B07003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 1 and older: 274,287
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New York	U.S.
Same house	236,085 ±2,650	86.1% ±1.0 pp	90.1%	87.7%
Moved within same county	24,633 ±2,299	9.0% ±0.8 pp	5.1%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	7,918 ±1,023	2.9% ±0.4 pp	2.6%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	3,774 ±599	1.4% ±0.2 pp	1.5%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	1,877 ±428	0.7% ±0.2 pp	0.7%	0.6%

These are respondents’ residence patterns one year before their survey response, pooled across the five-year window. They are not a net migration count for 2025. A person can move to a different house within the same city or county; moves within the same county should not automatically be interpreted as new arrivals to the city.

Health insurance, internet access and veterans

4.1% of Buffalo residents (±0.4 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 5.1% in New York and 8.4% nationally. 88.5% of households subscribe to broadband of any type, including cellular data plans. A subscription is not the same as available service: the FCC National Broadband Map shows providers at a specific address.

City, state and U.S. shares · ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Buffalo	New York	U.S.	Compared with New York
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	4.1% ±0.4 pp	5.1%	8.4%	Lower
Households with a broadband subscription Households	88.5% ±0.5 pp	90.8%	91.0%	Lower
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	5.0% ±0.4 pp	3.7%	6.2%	Higher

Reading and reusing the estimates

The Census table links above lead to the original detailed tables. Counts, source universes and uncertainty are retained in the source observation download for Buffalo . Compare these figures with the same survey window; do not compare one city’s five-year estimate with another city’s annual estimate as though they measured the same period. For methods, see uncertainty and denominator calculations.

Read Buffalo housing and cost context or return to the city profile.