Households in Dakota Dunes earn more than those in 93% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 2.4% of residents, against 11.9% across South Dakota. For jobs and income Dakota Dunes is better than 89% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (B−). About one in seven work in Dakota Dunes itself; outside it, North Sioux City draws the most (17%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Dakota Dunes stands out on work
Many of the people who work in Dakota Dunes live in another state
Sioux City, IA (32%), South Sioux City, NE (4%) and Sergeant Bluff, IA (2%) are among the top places Dakota Dunes’ workers come from. Counting only the top ten home towns, 38% of the jobs here are held by people from out of state. The commute map ↓
A lot of Dakota Dunes workers cross into Iowa
36% of Dakota Dunes workers work outside South Dakota, most of them in Iowa, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
A lot of Dakota Dunes works one town over
33% of working residents work in a town that borders Dakota Dunes: North Sioux City (17%) and Sioux City (16%). Next door ↓
Most Dakota Dunes residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Commutes from Dakota Dunes are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 18 across South Dakota. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical South Dakota worker. 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.
Inside Dakota Dunes’ Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 59% 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, Dakota Dunes could be anywhere from B to A+.
Where people from Dakota Dunes work
Where Dakota Dunes clocks in
16% 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 many miles Dakota Dunes commutes
About 25% 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.
About 12 minutes each way for Dakota Dunes’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dakota Dunes workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,734 commuters (the 10% 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 flow of workers through Dakota Dunes
On a workday 1,265 residents head out to work, 233 work right here, and 1,669 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,300 people are in Dakota Dunes on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.27 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
1,902 jobs are based in Dakota Dunes.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dakota Dunes, 2013 → 2023: 1,339 → 1,902. 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 Dakota Dunes’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Driving is how Dakota Dunes gets around
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% 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 1,937 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). 0.0% of Dakota Dunes households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dakota Dunes’ commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Dakota Dunes is 419th among 4,084 U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Split Rock Township SD | 3,086 | $148K | 0.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 366 | Big Sioux Township SD | 5,152 | $128K | 3.2% | 2.7% | 28% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 417 | Fremont NH | 4,923 | $121K | 5.2% | 1.3% | 4% | A |
| 418 | Ellington WI | 3,307 | $94K | 3.1% | 2.5% | 1% | A |
| 419 | Dakota Dunes SD | 3,936 | $136K | 2.4% | 3.4% | 16% | A |
| 420 | Meadowdale WA | 3,009 | $174K | 6.2% | 3.9% | 1% | A |
| 421 | Sunnyslope WA | 3,706 | $136K | 4.1% | 0.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 427 | Hartford SD | 3,635 | $100K | 5.5% | 0.9% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,084 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Dakota Dunes, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
The towns next door employ 33% of Dakota Dunes
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dakota Dunes workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dakota Dunes | – | A | B− | 12 min | $136,125 |
| North Sioux City | 17% | C+ | C+ | 14 min | $71,908 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to North Sioux City. Darker towns draw more of Dakota Dunes’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 Dakota Dunes: questions
What is the median household income in Dakota Dunes?
$136,125 (±$39,977) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dakota Dunes?
2.4%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dakota Dunes?
12 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dakota Dunes work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are North Sioux City (17%, 3 mi), Sioux City (16%, 5 mi), Big Sioux Township (13%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dakota Dunes walkable?
Dakota Dunes is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dakota Dunes 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 Dakota Dunes, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dakota Dunes
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.