Buffalo Center vs Scarville

A side-by-side comparison of Buffalo Center and Scarville: population, income, housing, and more.

Buffalo Center and Scarville are places in Iowa. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Buffalo Center has the higher population (1,000 vs 61 in Scarville). Buffalo Center has the higher median home value ($93,800 vs $51,700 in Scarville). Since 2019, Buffalo Center's population has grown faster (+11.0% vs -1.6%).

Population, income & housing

	Buffalo Center	Scarville
Population	1,000	61
Median age	58.2 yrs	42.8 yrs
Median household income	$49,474	—
Median home value	$93,800	$51,700
Median gross rent	$646	—
Housing units	584	36
Homeownership rate	72.2%	51.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	26.1%	43.6%
Unemployment rate	9.2%	2.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Buffalo Center	Scarville
Population	901 → 1,000 (+11.0%)	62 → 61 (-1.6%)
Median household income	$44,655 → $49,474 (+10.8%)	$56,250 → $41,250 (-26.7%)
Median home value	$64,200 → $93,800 (+46.1%)	$36,900 → $51,700 (+40.1%)
Median gross rent	$629 → $646 (+2.7%)	—

Buffalo Center

Population

9011,000

Median household income

$44,655$49,474

Median home value

$64,200$93,800

Median gross rent

$629$646

Scarville

Population

6261

Median household income

$56,250$41,250

Median home value

$36,900$51,700

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Buffalo Center	Scarville
Under 5	2.5%	4.9%
5 to 17	11.9%	13.1%
18 to 24	7.3%	18.0%
25 to 34	4.9%	4.9%
35 to 44	6.7%	9.8%
45 to 54	12.7%	1.6%
55 to 64	21.7%	26.2%
65 to 74	17.8%	13.1%
75 and over	14.5%	8.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Buffalo Center	Scarville
White (non-Hispanic)	94.3%	77.0%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	1.1%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	1.6%
Two or more races	1.4%	0.0%
Hispanic or Latino	3.2%	21.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Buffalo Center	Scarville
No high school diploma	2.8%	10.3%
High school graduate	41.6%	30.8%
Some college or associate's	29.5%	15.4%
Bachelor's degree	22.3%	23.1%
Graduate or professional degree	3.7%	20.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Buffalo Center	Scarville
Drove alone	65.6%	73.9%
Carpooled	6.6%	0.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	25.6%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	13.0%
Worked from home	2.1%	13.0%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Buffalo Center	Scarville
1-unit, detached	83.0%	97.2%
1-unit, attached	0.3%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	12.2%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	4.5%	0.0%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	2.8%

Poverty & households

	Buffalo Center	Scarville
Poverty rate	8.3%	23.0%
Average household size	1.92	1.85
Mean commute (minutes)	19	—
Median year structure built	1957	1938