Buffalo County vs Lancaster County

A side-by-side comparison of Buffalo County and Lancaster County: population, income, housing, and more.

Buffalo County and Lancaster County are counties in Nebraska. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Lancaster County has the higher population (323,673 vs 50,323 in Buffalo County). Buffalo County has the higher median household income ($74,570 vs $72,625 in Lancaster County). Lancaster County has the higher median home value ($258,900 vs $236,800 in Buffalo County).

Population, income & housing

	Buffalo County	Lancaster County
Population	50,323	323,673
Median age	34.6 yrs	34.3 yrs
Median household income	$74,570	$72,625
Median home value	$236,800	$258,900
Median gross rent	$911	$1,045
Housing units	21,181	138,232
Homeownership rate	65.2%	58.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	34.6%	41.1%
Unemployment rate	2.8%	3.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Buffalo County	Lancaster County
Population	49,209 → 50,323 (+2.3%)	313,158 → 323,673 (+3.4%)
Median household income	$59,431 → $74,570 (+25.5%)	$60,527 → $72,625 (+20.0%)
Median home value	$174,800 → $236,800 (+35.5%)	$177,400 → $258,900 (+45.9%)
Median gross rent	$779 → $911 (+16.9%)	$852 → $1,045 (+22.7%)

Buffalo County

Population

49,20950,323

Median household income

$59,431$74,570

Median home value

$174,800$236,800

Median gross rent

$779$911

Lancaster County

Population

313,158323,673

Median household income

$60,527$72,625

Median home value

$177,400$258,900

Median gross rent

$852$1,045

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Buffalo County	Lancaster County
Under 5	6.0%	5.9%
5 to 17	16.9%	16.8%
18 to 24	14.7%	14.6%
25 to 34	12.7%	13.6%
35 to 44	12.6%	12.8%
45 to 54	10.3%	10.6%
55 to 64	10.8%	10.8%
65 to 74	9.2%	9.3%
75 and over	6.8%	5.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Buffalo County	Lancaster County
White (non-Hispanic)	84.6%	78.7%
Black or African American	0.8%	3.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.3%
Asian	1.6%	4.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.3%
Two or more races	2.1%	4.6%
Hispanic or Latino	10.4%	8.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Buffalo County	Lancaster County
No high school diploma	6.5%	6.5%
High school graduate	24.3%	20.5%
Some college or associate's	34.5%	31.9%
Bachelor's degree	22.7%	26.4%
Graduate or professional degree	11.9%	14.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Buffalo County	Lancaster County
Drove alone	83.4%	76.1%
Carpooled	9.2%	8.4%
Public transit	0.2%	0.8%
Walked	1.9%	3.0%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.8%
Worked from home	4.4%	10.1%
Other means	0.8%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Buffalo County	Lancaster County
1-unit, detached	66.3%	58.9%
1-unit, attached	5.2%	7.5%
2 to 4 units	8.5%	5.9%
5 to 19 units	8.6%	13.5%
20 or more units	5.9%	12.7%
Mobile home & other	5.5%	1.6%

Poverty & households

	Buffalo County	Lancaster County
Poverty rate	11.0%	11.7%
Average household size	2.45	2.35
Mean commute (minutes)	16	19
Median year structure built	1979	1981