Photo: Bradleygee · CC BY-SA 2.0At 2.6%, unemployment in Belle Fourche is lower than in 76% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Belle Fourche are C+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in four work in Belle Fourche itself; outside it, Spearfish draws the most (20%, 12 miles). Commuters spend 26 minutes getting to work on average, where South Dakota has 18 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Belle Fourche in brief
Belle Fourche workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 26 minutes each way, against 18 across South Dakota. Over a year that’s about 199 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Belle Fourche workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 10% across South Dakota. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Belle Fourche
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Belle Fourche is better than 40% of U.S. towns, #26 of 35 in South Dakota. Unemployment holds Belle Fourche’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Belle Fourche could be anywhere from D to B+.
A commute of about 26 minutes in Belle Fourche
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Belle Fourche workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,825 commuters (the 4% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Belle Fourche
On a workday 1,927 residents head out to work, 797 work right here, and 1,111 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,000 people are in Belle Fourche on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.70 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.
Commuting out of Belle Fourche: the destinations
Where Belle Fourche clocks in
20% of workers
10% 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.
What Belle Fourche’s employers do
1,908 jobs are based in Belle Fourche.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Belle Fourche, 2013 → 2023: 1,879 → 1,908. 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 Belle Fourche’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Belle Fourche’s workers travel
About 22% 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 Belle Fourche is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Belle Fourche is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns, #20 of 35 in South Dakota. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.3% across South Dakota.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,953 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). 5.9% of Belle Fourche households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Belle Fourche’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Belle Fourche ranks: 2,182nd of 3,375 U.S. towns of 4,100 to 7,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 369 | Big Sioux Township SD | 5,152 | $128K | 3.2% | 2.7% | 28% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,301 | Rapid Valley SD | 6,975 | $83K | 4.5% | 4.3% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,162 | Sturgis SD | 6,922 | $54K | 9.2% | 3.0% | 33% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,180 | Medina NY | 5,855 | $59K | 12.3% | 3.3% | 26% | C+ |
| 2,181 | DuBois PA | 7,254 | $63K | 14.0% | 3.4% | 28% | C+ |
| 2,182 | Belle Fourche SD | 5,791 | $65K | 10.6% | 2.6% | 29% | C+ |
| 2,183 | Newfield NY | 4,832 | $74K | 8.9% | 5.1% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,184 | Oceano CA | 7,128 | $72K | 17.2% | 4.1% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,375 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Belle Fourche, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
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 Belle Fourche: questions
What is the median household income in Belle Fourche?
$65,071 (±$22,044) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Belle Fourche?
10.6%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Belle Fourche?
26 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Belle Fourche work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Spearfish (20%, 12 mi), Rapid City (10%, 52 mi), Deadwood (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Belle Fourche walkable?
Belle Fourche is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Belle Fourche without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Belle Fourche, from the people who make the trip.
More of Belle Fourche
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.