About two in three of Blackhawk’s working residents commute to Rapid City
Only 4% work in Blackhawk; the top destination outside it is Rapid City (64%, 8 miles). Jobs and income earn Blackhawk B−; getting around on foot earns it D. Poverty touches 1.8% of residents, next to 11.9% for South Dakota as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Blackhawk
More than half of Blackhawk works in Rapid City
889 working residents, 64%, have their main job in Rapid City, 8 miles away. That’s 16 times as many as work in Blackhawk itself. The commute map ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Blackhawk’s working residents have a job less than 8 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 24 minutes, longer than the South Dakota average of 18. Time on the road ↓
Most Blackhawk residents work close to home
74% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
Blackhawk makes and builds things
50% of the jobs based in Blackhawk are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Blackhawk residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 17%. The jobs ↓
Blackhawk is a place people come home to
There are 419 jobs based in Blackhawk, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Blackhawk has about 2,000 people in it, 33% 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Blackhawk
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Blackhawk is better than 54% of U.S. towns, #19 of 35 in South Dakota. The poverty rate holds Blackhawk’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down (6.7%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Blackhawk could be anywhere from C to A.
Where Blackhawk’s working residents head each day
Where Blackhawk clocks in
64% of workers
3% 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.
Getting to work from Blackhawk takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Blackhawk workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,658 commuters (the 5% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Blackhawk
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.
Goods jobs make up 50% of work in Blackhawk
419 jobs are based in Blackhawk.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Blackhawk, 2013 → 2023: 331 → 419. 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 Blackhawk’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Blackhawk quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,347 residents head out to work, 51 work right here, and 368 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Blackhawk on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.
0.30 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.
In Blackhawk, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Blackhawk is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns, #34 of 35 in South Dakota. Both inputs place Blackhawk near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,741 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). 0.8% of Blackhawk households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Blackhawk’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,618 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000, Blackhawk comes 2,010th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Split Rock Township SD | 3,086 | $148K | 0.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Springdale Township SD | 2,229 | $151K | 1.3% | 0.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 396 | Dakota Dunes SD | 3,936 | $136K | 2.4% | 3.4% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,008 | West Milwaukee WI | 3,984 | $49K | 20.4% | 1.6% | 3% | B− |
| 2,009 | Homer Township MI | 3,952 | $117K | 10.5% | 5.7% | 3% | B− |
| 2,010 | Blackhawk SD | 2,934 | $72K | 1.8% | 6.7% | 4% | B− |
| 2,011 | Marshall VA | 3,219 | $94K | 20.6% | 2.8% | 6% | B− |
| 2,012 | Springfield GA | 3,344 | $63K | 8.4% | 2.4% | 7% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Blackhawk, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
Around Blackhawk: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Summerset (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Blackhawk’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 Blackhawk: questions
What is the median household income in Blackhawk?
$71,993 (±$10,670) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Blackhawk?
1.8%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Blackhawk?
24 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Blackhawk work?
4% work in town.
Is Blackhawk walkable?
Blackhawk is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Blackhawk without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Blackhawk, from the people who make the trip.
More of Blackhawk
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.