Brandon has lower unemployment (1.2%) than 93% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Brandon A+; getting around on foot earns it B−. Measured by household income, Brandon is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns. Home is the office for 19% of workers, next to 10% for South Dakota as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Brandon, in a few figures
More than half of Brandon works in Sioux Falls
3,777 working residents, 60%, have their main job in Sioux Falls, 8.2 miles away. That’s 4 times as many as work in Brandon itself. The commute map ↓
Most Brandon residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Brandon has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Brandon went from 2,575 in 2013 to 3,808 in 2023, +48%. The jobs ↓
A lot of Brandon works from home
19% of Brandon workers work from home, against 10% across South Dakota. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Brandon
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brandon is better than 96% of U.S. towns, #3 of 35 in South Dakota. The poverty rate is its strongest input (1.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 65% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brandon could be anywhere from A to A+.
60% of working residents work in Sioux Falls
Where Brandon clocks in
1% of workers
1% 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.
How far Brandon goes to work
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.
Making and building: 34% of jobs based in Brandon
3,808 jobs are based in Brandon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brandon, 2013 → 2023: 2,575 → 3,808. 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 Brandon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Brandon: about 18 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brandon workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,780 commuters (the 19% 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.
Brandon by day and by night
On a workday 5,189 residents head out to work, 1,068 work right here, and 2,740 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,900 people are in Brandon on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.61 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.
For most of Brandon, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brandon is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns, #28 of 35 in South Dakota. Both inputs place Brandon 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 5,890 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.9% of Brandon households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Brandon’s commuters take a bus or train.
152nd of 2,507: where Brandon ranks among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Harrisburg SD | 10,405 | $109K | 0.5% | 1.0% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 150 | Fair Lakes VA | 8,894 | $127K | 5.5% | 2.5% | 3% | A+ |
| 151 | Westwood NJ | 11,365 | $166K | 7.1% | 2.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 152 | Brandon SD | 11,306 | $111K | 1.4% | 1.2% | 17% | A+ |
| 153 | Windsor WI | 10,085 | $120K | 4.5% | 1.4% | 3% | A+ |
| 154 | East Hanover Township NJ | 11,457 | $150K | 2.3% | 4.1% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 271 | Tea SD | 8,019 | $120K | 4.7% | 2.0% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,286 | Pierre SD | 13,848 | $78K | 10.1% | 1.2% | 65% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Brandon, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
The towns around Brandon
The biggest share goes to Split Rock Township (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brandon workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon | – | A+ | B− | 18 min | $110,806 |
| Brandon Township | under 1% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Split Rock Township | 1% | A+ | D | 19 min | $147,717 |
Same-state neighbors only. Brandon Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Brandon’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 Brandon: questions
What is the median household income in Brandon?
$110,806 (±$10,346) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brandon?
1.4%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brandon?
18 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brandon work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux Falls (60%, 8 mi), Sioux City (1%, 76 mi), Rapid City (1%, 332 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brandon walkable?
Brandon is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brandon without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brandon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brandon
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.