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Traffic heat map of Buffalo County, South Dakota: 71 miles of roads shaded from blue (light) to red (heavy traffic), busiest on SD 47 and SD 34

Buffalo County, South Dakota Traffic Counts

Our Buffalo County, South Dakota traffic data covers 221 road segments over 71 road miles, with an average segment of just 1,699 ft. Its roads are the quietest of any county in South Dakota, at 302 vehicles a day on average. Whether you are evaluating a new retail location, planning routes or assessing infrastructure, these numbers replace guesswork.
Data sourced from TrafficZoom's proprietary analytics platform.
Data current as of:
Q3 2026
Updated:
September 29, 2026
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Total Traffic Volume & Performance in Buffalo County, South Dakota

Traffic

The average number of vehicles that travel each day over any road in the road network.

vehicles per day302
Trucks

The percentage of the total traffic volume composed of heavy vehicles.

13.3%
Average travel time

The average time of travel averaged among all vehicles traveling on the road network.

42.0 min
Drivers’ average age

Average age of residents in the geographic areas where the vehicle trips originated.

41.8 yrs
Drivers’ average income

Average income of residents in the geographic areas where the vehicle trips originated.

$55,618

The average monitored road in Buffalo County, South Dakota carries 302 vehicles per day. Across its 71 miles of monitored roads, that adds up to 22,790 vehicle-miles traveled per day (≈8.3 million per year). Trucks are 13.3% of traffic, more than the 10.3% across South Dakota.

The quietest roads of any county in South Dakota

Buffalo sees 90% lower average daily traffic volume than the state average (302 vehicles per day against 3,156), suggesting less demand on each road - quiet roads that suit freight movement more than drive-by retail. In total volume terms, its road network carries less than 0.1% of South Dakota's statewide total of vehicle-miles. In fact, Buffalo has the lowest average traffic volume of any county in South Dakota, at 302 vehicles per day.

At 42.0 minutes, the average travel time is 29% higher than the state level. 80% of counties in South Dakota have a shorter average travel time than Buffalo's 42.0 minutes.

Time-of-Day & Seasonal Patterns

Data Finding: Hourly & Seasonal Patterns

In Buffalo County, South Dakota, the peak hour concentrates about 8% of the day's traffic.

Buffalo County vs. South Dakota Traffic Comparison

The average daily traffic per road sets Buffalo County apart: 90% below the South Dakota average. Its truck share, by contrast, is 30% above.

MetricBuffalo CountySouth Dakota averageDifference
Traffic3023,156-90.4%
Truck % (Total Traffic)13.3%10.3%+29.8%
Avg. Travel Time42.0 min32.5 min+29.3%

How Buffalo County compares

Buffalo County has the quietest roads among its nearby counties

Against the 4 nearest areas, Buffalo County moves 8.2% of the total daily travel and carries 76.7% less traffic on a typical road; it has the quietest roads of the five. Quiet roads and long journeys - a rural pattern, where the distance between destinations rather than the traffic on the way is what takes the time.

Buffalo County and the 4 nearest county-level areas by centroid distance, with the South Dakota average for scale.
AreaAverage daily trafficTruck shareDaily vehicle-milesAverage travel timeCongestion ratio
Buffalo County30213.3%22,79042.0 minN/A
Brule County, South Dakota1,50413.4%373,40729.4 minN/A
Hand County, South Dakota1,53312.5%111,55439.4 minN/A
Jerauld County, South Dakota79411.1%56,00241.2 minN/A
Lyman County, South Dakota1,36218.2%571,25337.0 minN/A
South Dakota average3,15610.3%N/A32.5 min12.9%

Buffalo County ranked within South Dakota

No county-level area in South Dakota records a lower average daily traffic volume than Buffalo County.

Buffalo County ranked among 66 county-level areas in South Dakota (1 = highest).
MeasureBuffalo CountySouth Dakota rank
Traffic volume (AADT)302#66 of 66
Average travel time42.0 min#14 of 66
Average driver income$55,618#61 of 66
Average driver age41.8 yrs#61 of 66

The two ends of this table sit far apart: #14 of 66 on average travel time, against #66 of 66 on average daily traffic volume.

Busiest roads in Buffalo County, South Dakota

The three busiest roads in Buffalo County average 423 vehicles a day, 40% more than the county average of 302 across all its monitored roads.

SD 47 is the busiest road, at 520 vehicles a day, 75 of them trucks (14.5%). It tops the truck ranking too, with the most trucks.

SD Highway 34 draws drivers from lower-income areas: their neighborhoods average $38,500 in household income, 31% below the county's $55,618.

Trips on SD Highway 249 are short, a median of 28.8 minutes against 42.0 county-wide, so it serves mostly local traffic.

SD 34 / SD 47 skews older: its drivers' median age is 48.2, compared with 41.8 county-wide.

Ranked by daily traffic (AADT)

Cars and light vehiclesTrucks
1SD 47Primary road · 520vehicles75trucks · 14.5%
Road class
Primary road
Median trip time
33.3 min
Drivers’ median age
39.8 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$47,003

SD 47 is busy by local standards, at 72% more than the county average on its busiest stretch; trucks are 14.5% of it, above the county-wide 13.3%.

2SD 34 / SD 47Primary road · 384vehicles48trucks · 12.6%
Road class
Primary road
Median trip time
50.4 min
Drivers’ median age
48.2 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$63,385

SD 34 / SD 47 peaks at 384 vehicles a day, 27% more than the county average; trucks are 12.6% of it, below the county-wide 13.3%.

3SD 34Primary road · 365vehicles50trucks · 13.6%
Road class
Primary road
Median trip time
52.4 min
Drivers’ median age
48.1 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$52,406

SD 34 carries 21% more than the county average at its busiest, 50 of them trucks (13.6%, in line with the county-wide 13.3%).

4SD Highway 34Primary road · 357vehicles55trucks · 15.4%
Road class
Primary road
Median trip time
49.4 min
Drivers’ median age
38.5 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$38,500

SD Highway 34 carries 18% more than the county average on its busiest stretch, where the median trip lasts 49.4 minutes.

5SD Highway 249Primary road · 318vehicles38trucks · 11.9%
Road class
Primary road
Median trip time
28.8 min
Drivers’ median age
38.7 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$41,751

At 5% more than the county average, SD Highway 249 draws drivers from neighborhoods averaging $41,751 in household income.

Ranked by trucks per day

Cars and light vehiclesTrucks
1SD 47Primary road · #1 by traffic520vehicles75trucks · 14.5%
2SD Highway 34Primary road · #4 by traffic357vehicles55trucks · 15.4%
3SD 34Primary road · #3 by traffic365vehicles50trucks · 13.6%
4SD 34 / SD 47Primary road · #2 by traffic384vehicles48trucks · 12.6%
5SD Highway 249Primary road · #5 by traffic318vehicles38trucks · 11.9%
How to read these road counts
  • The first number is AADT, annual average daily traffic: the vehicles passing a point on an average day, both directions combined and trucks included. On a divided highway both carriageways are added together.
  • Traffic changes along a road, with more near interchanges and towns and less in open country. Every figure for a road describes its busiest stretch in the county, so the two rankings show the same numbers for the same road.
  • The second number is the trucks on that stretch, a part of its AADT. The bar splits the AADT into cars and light vehicles (blue) and trucks (amber).
  • See segment-level AADT for any road on TrafficZoom.

Data Sources & Methodology

The data presented on this page is derived from TrafficZoom's proprietary analytics platform, which aggregates and normalizes information from multiple sources, including:

Mobile device location data (anonymized and aggregated)

Road sensor networks and traffic counters

Historical traffic pattern databases

Public traffic count programs published by the

BuffaloDepartment of Transportation

Demographic Baseline for O-D Modeling

U.S. Census Bureau
All metrics represent estimates based on statistical modeling and are intended for strategic planning purposes.
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Data current as of:
Q3 2026

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Counties near Buffalo County

The same traffic breakdown for the areas closest to Buffalo County, South Dakota.

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