Buffalo County’s broader economy continues to show underlying strength, with several indicators pointing to steady demand and ongoing activity. Retail sales in January 2026 totaled $74.9 million, up from the prior year, while year‑to‑date lodging tax collections (March 2025–February 2026) increased to nearly $1.9 million, reflecting continued visitor activity and regional travel demand.
Passenger enplanements also continue to trend upward, with 25,030 enplanements recorded over the most recent twelve‑month period—exceeding the prior year total. At the same time, unemployment remains low at 2.5%, underscoring a consistently tight labor market.
Not all indicators moved in the same direction. Vehicle sales declined by nearly $2.5 million (17.5%) year over year in January, and lodging tax collections for February came in slightly below last year’s monthly total. Still, taken together, these mixed signals largely reflect normalization following several years of elevated activity rather than a broader economic slowdown. Demand—from workers, consumers, and visitors—remains present across much of the local economy.
Housing, however, deserves a closer look.
At first glance, Buffalo County’s housing data continues a familiar pattern. Month‑to‑month activity fluctuates modestly. On a twelve‑month basis, residential construction remains below where we would like it to be. But when we step back and examine trends over a longer horizon, the depth of the housing challenge becomes much clearer.
Over the most recent twelve‑month period (April 2025 through March 2026), Buffalo County added 105 new residential dwelling units, supported by approximately $51.4 million in total residential investment, or nearly $489,000 per unit. While this represents an improvement over some prior twelve‑month periods, it remains well below what would be considered a healthy pace of housing production for a county experiencing sustained population, workforce, and employment growth.
The longer‑term trend is more concerning. Over the last five years, annual residential additions have ranged from as few as 75 units to a high of 140 units, with no sustained upward trajectory. In other words, housing production has been inconsistent—and more importantly, structurally insufficient—when viewed across multiple years rather than a single reporting cycle.
This context matters. A year like the most recent twelve‑month period can appear “acceptable” in isolation, but placed alongside the previous four years, it becomes clear that Buffalo County has experienced half a decade of underproduction, not a single soft year. The cumulative impact compounds over time, tightening the housing market, limiting workforce mobility, and constraining economic growth in ways that are not immediately visible in any one month’s data.
Cost dynamics further complicate the picture. While total residential investment has remained relatively steady, investment per unit has risen sharply, reflecting higher construction costs and limited product mix rather than increased volume. In plain terms, we are often spending more per unit without delivering enough total units to relieve pressure in the market.
April permitting data reinforces this trend. While total building permits over the past twelve months increased to 177, only 105 were residential dwelling units, with the balance driven by commercial construction and remodeling activity.
Taken together, these numbers point to a challenge that is systemic, not cyclical. The issue is not a weak month or a single disappointing year, but a prolonged period in which housing supply has failed to keep pace with the needs of employers, workers, and families in Buffalo County.
Trevor Lee, President of the Development Council for Buffalo County
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