More than half of Aurora’s working residents commute to Brookings
Only 1% work in Aurora; the top destination outside it is Brookings (55%, 5 miles). Jobs and income earn Aurora B; getting around on foot earns it C−. Measured by household income, Aurora is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Aurora at work: what stands out
More than half of Aurora works in Brookings
250 working residents, 55%, have their main job in Brookings, 5.3 miles away. That’s 55 times as many as work in Aurora itself. The commute map ↓
Aurora is a place people come home to
There are 71 jobs based in Aurora, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Aurora has about 900 people in it, 30% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 455 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Aurora
On income, poverty and job access, Aurora is better than 64% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Aurora’s grade up (2.7%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (3.3%) is left out: Aurora’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Aurora could be anywhere from B− to B+.
The towns that employ Aurora’s residents
Where Aurora clocks in
Lines 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.
Who works in Aurora, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 450 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 66 people come in from elsewhere.
About 900 people are in Aurora on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.
0.16 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
75% of the jobs in Aurora pay over $3,333 a month
71 jobs are based in Aurora.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Aurora, 2013 → 2023: 40 → 71. 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 Aurora’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Aurora’s commute takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Aurora workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 801 commuters (the 11% 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.
How many miles Aurora commutes
About 19% 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.
The commute in Aurora is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Aurora is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.3% across South Dakota, on an EPA index of 2.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 904 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.3% of Aurora households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Aurora’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700, Aurora ranks 1,064th of 4,866 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Wall Lake Township SD | 1,210 | $129K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 174 | Jefferson Township SD | 1,207 | $196K | 2.0% | 3.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 178 | Crooks SD | 1,415 | $99K | 0.5% | 1.4% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,062 | Medary Township SD | 1,579 | $108K | 6.7% | 2.2% | 1% | B |
| 1,063 | Shell Rock IA | 1,252 | $79K | 5.0% | 2.9% | 4% | B |
| 1,064 | Aurora SD | 1,286 | $96K | 2.7% | 3.3% | 1% | B |
| 1,065 | East Carroll Township PA | 1,413 | $81K | 4.8% | 4.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,066 | Fayston VT | 1,400 | $110K | 4.2% | 3.3% | 16% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Aurora, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
Next door to Aurora
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Aurora workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora | – | B | C− | 17 min | $95,952 |
| Aurora Township | 1% | — | — | 14 min | — |
| Trenton Township | under 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Aurora Township and Trenton Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Aurora Township. Darker towns draw more of Aurora’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Aurora: questions
What is the median household income in Aurora?
$95,952 (±$8,817) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Aurora?
2.7%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Aurora?
17 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Aurora work?
1% work in town.
Is Aurora walkable?
Aurora is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 2.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Aurora without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Aurora, from the people who make the trip.
More of Aurora
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.