Altamont has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
Hardly any work in Altamont; the top destination outside it is Brookings (19%, 37 miles). There are 3 jobs in Altamont, against 16 working residents. 0% of workers work from home, where South Dakota as a whole has 10%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through Altamont
On a workday 16 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 3 people come in from elsewhere.
About 23 people are in Altamont on a workday afternoon, 36% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Altamont goes to work
Where Altamont clocks in
13% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Altamont makes things: 67% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Altamont, 2013 → 2023: 23 → 3. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Altamont’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Altamont: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Altamont workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 20 commuters (the 0% who work from home are left out). Across South Dakota: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Miles to work from Altamont
About 31% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Altamont: questions
What is the poverty rate in Altamont?
0.0%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Altamont?
18 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Altamont work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Brookings (19%, 37 mi), Clear Lake (13%, 6 mi), Sioux Falls (13%, 90 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Altamont without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Altamont, from the people who make the trip.
More of Altamont
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.