New Buffalo vs Watervliet

A side-by-side comparison of New Buffalo and Watervliet: population, income, housing, and more.

New Buffalo and Watervliet are places in Michigan. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Watervliet has the higher population (1,879 vs 1,306 in New Buffalo). New Buffalo has the higher median household income ($64,524 vs $57,477 in Watervliet). New Buffalo has the higher median home value ($342,700 vs $130,000 in Watervliet).

Population, income & housing

	New Buffalo	Watervliet
Population	1,306	1,879
Median age	53.8 yrs	29.9 yrs
Median household income	$64,524	$57,477
Median home value	$342,700	$130,000
Median gross rent	$825	$838
Housing units	1,666	707
Homeownership rate	76.3%	66.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	40.1%	10.4%
Unemployment rate	1.9%	5.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	New Buffalo	Watervliet
Population	1,714 → 1,306 (-23.8%)	1,544 → 1,879 (+21.7%)
Median household income	$48,102 → $64,524 (+34.1%)	$37,614 → $57,477 (+52.8%)
Median home value	$223,100 → $342,700 (+53.6%)	$99,400 → $130,000 (+30.8%)
Median gross rent	$903 → $825 (-8.6%)	$702 → $838 (+19.4%)

New Buffalo

Population

1,7141,306

Median household income

$48,102$64,524

Median home value

$223,100$342,700

Median gross rent

$903$825

Watervliet

Population

1,5441,879

Median household income

$37,614$57,477

Median home value

$99,400$130,000

Median gross rent

$702$838

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	New Buffalo	Watervliet
Under 5	2.5%	12.0%
5 to 17	8.5%	19.2%
18 to 24	3.4%	8.1%
25 to 34	8.0%	15.2%
35 to 44	11.9%	13.6%
45 to 54	16.8%	9.8%
55 to 64	19.1%	11.5%
65 to 74	21.6%	5.4%
75 and over	8.1%	5.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	New Buffalo	Watervliet
White (non-Hispanic)	84.8%	72.2%
Black or African American	0.6%	0.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.3%	2.3%
Asian	5.5%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	0.8%	4.0%
Hispanic or Latino	6.9%	21.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	New Buffalo	Watervliet
No high school diploma	8.1%	16.2%
High school graduate	20.8%	28.7%
Some college or associate's	31.0%	44.6%
Bachelor's degree	20.5%	7.4%
Graduate or professional degree	19.6%	3.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	New Buffalo	Watervliet
Drove alone	76.0%	82.1%
Carpooled	6.6%	15.0%
Public transit	1.0%	0.0%
Walked	4.0%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	12.4%	1.9%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	New Buffalo	Watervliet
1-unit, detached	68.8%	73.1%
1-unit, attached	5.1%	7.8%
2 to 4 units	9.3%	8.8%
5 to 19 units	7.4%	0.3%
20 or more units	9.4%	8.5%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	1.6%

Poverty & households

	New Buffalo	Watervliet
Poverty rate	10.0%	18.2%
Average household size	1.72	2.80
Mean commute (minutes)	21	20
Median year structure built	1973	1958