| Buffalo, Wyoming | |
|---|---|
| — City — | |
| Occidental Hotel, Buffalo, Wyoming | |
| Location of Buffalo, Wyoming | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Wyoming |
| County | Johnson |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.5 sq mi (9.1 km2) |
| • Land | 3.5 sq mi (9.1 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 4,646 ft (1,416 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 3,900 |
| • Density | 1,104.8/sq mi (426.6/km2) |
| Time zone | Mountain (MST) (UTC-7) |
| • Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) |
| ZIP codes | 82834, 82840 |
| Area code(s) | 307 |
| FIPS code | 56-10685[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 1586043[2] |
Buffalo is a city in Johnson County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 3,900 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Johnson County[3]. In recent years, the town has boomed economically due to methane production from the coal bed methane extraction method used in the Powder River Basin and surrounding areas.[4]
Contents |
Buffalo is located at (44.347479, -106.701222).[5]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.5 square miles (9.1 km²), all of it land.
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1980 | 3,799 |
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| 1990 | 3,302 | −13.1% | |
| 2000 | 3,900 | 18.1% | |
| 2010 | 4,585 | 17.6% | |
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As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 3,900 people, 1,718 households, and 1,042 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,104.8 people per square mile (426.6/km²). There were 1,842 housing units at an average density of 521.8 per square mile (201.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.46% White, 0.10% African American, 0.82% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 0.54% from other races, and 2.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.82% of the population.
There were 1,718 households out of which 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.8% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.3% were non-families. 35.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.1% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 22.6% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 21.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,392, and the median income for a family was $40,683. Males had a median income of $28,716 versus $19,688 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,054. About 6.7% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.0% of those under age 18 and 12.4% of those age 65 or over.
The Wyoming Department of Health Veteran's Home of Wyoming, an assisted living facility for veterans and their dependents, is located in Buffalo.[6][7] The facility was operated by the Wyoming Board of Charities and Reform until that agency was dissolved as a result of a state constitutional amendment passed in November 1990.[8]
The United States Postal Service operates the Buffalo Post Office.[9]
Public education in the city of Buffalo is provided by Johnson County School District #1. Schools serving the city include Meadowlark Elementary School (grades K-3) Clear Creek Elementary School (grades 4-5), Clear Creek Middle School (grades 6-8), and Buffalo High School (grades 9-12).
The Mini Publications Center, a Wyoming non-profit and registered 501c3. [10] MPC is a non-profit community organization dedicated to helping regional community and small businesses grow and prosper through free and low cost community services using both print and online media journalism focused on the needs of rural communities. MPC runs an internet café, has a local gallery in the café, and is starting its 14th year publishing a FREE local community paper, The Mini. Recently they have expanded to the internet with a news site, BigHornMountainExpress.com. It is the online version of The Mini and goes beyond to include the whole BigHorn Mountain region of north Central Wyoming. MPC runs the BigHornMountainExpress.com as a rural Community News Site, as well as an Educational Website (teaching seniors, students and anybody else how to write about the arts, their community and small business advice). The MPC is also working to create a community learning or community college course certification in running a rural community news service and for developing citizen journalists of all ages and backgrounds. They adhere to the best principles of citizen journalism for rural communities. The Mini – the print edition that comes out twice a week – serves as a low tech go everywhere community paper that gets the word out most effectively (it’s free and sticks to one just BIG idea a day). It’s also a paper bridge to longer, more in-depth articles on BHMX.
The Buffalo Bulletin[11] has served as the paper of Record in Johnson County since 1884.[12] The paper is published once a week on Thursdays, and has been family owned and operated for three generations. Robb Hicks, the current owner and publisher of the paper, purchased the Bulletin from his father, Jim Hicks in 1996. Hicks owns newspapers across Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Idaho and Washington.[13]
Buffalo is located near the northern terminus of Interstate 25, where it joins with Interstate 90.
Buffalo experiences a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) with cold, dry winters and hot, wetter summers.
| Climate data for Buffalo | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 66 (19) |
74 (23) |
78 (26) |
88 (31) |
93 (34) |
102 (39) |
105 (41) |
106 (41) |
101 (38) |
89 (32) |
80 (27) |
70 (21) |
106 (41) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 33.0 (0.6) |
38.0 (3.3) |
46.7 (8.2) |
55.5 (13.1) |
64.9 (18.3) |
76.4 (24.7) |
84.0 (28.9) |
83.3 (28.5) |
71.6 (22.0) |
59.7 (15.4) |
43.2 (6.2) |
34.8 (1.6) |
57.59 (14.22) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 7.3 (−13.7) |
13.0 (−10.6) |
22.4 (−5.3) |
32.0 (0.0) |
41.0 (5.0) |
50.3 (10.2) |
56.2 (13.4) |
54.6 (12.6) |
43.4 (6.3) |
32.3 (0.2) |
18.9 (−7.3) |
9.6 (−12.4) |
31.75 (−0.14) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −36 (−38) |
−32 (−36) |
−22 (−30) |
5 (−15) |
13 (−11) |
27 (−3) |
32 (0) |
33 (1) |
13 (−11) |
−8 (−22) |
−24 (−31) |
−35 (−37) |
−36 (−38) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 0.45 (11.4) |
0.39 (9.9) |
0.73 (18.5) |
1.60 (40.6) |
2.44 (62) |
2.13 (54.1) |
1.48 (37.6) |
0.89 (22.6) |
1.37 (34.8) |
1.04 (26.4) |
0.49 (12.4) |
0.48 (12.2) |
13.49 (342.6) |
| Source no. 1: NOAA (normals, 1971-2000) [14] | |||||||||||||
| Source no. 2: The Weather Channel (Records) [15] | |||||||||||||
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