Photo: Ross Griff · CC BY 2.0Households in De Smet have lower incomes than those in 62% of U.S. towns
4.6% of residents are in poverty; South Dakota has 11.9%. De Smet grades C+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in three work in De Smet; the top destination outside it is Sioux Falls (9%, 71 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set De Smet apart
De Smet’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside De Smet is Sioux Falls, 71 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (42) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from De Smet 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; with 461 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in De Smet: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, De Smet is better than 40% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds De Smet’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: De Smet’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, De Smet could be anywhere from C− to B.
Short hops and long hauls from De Smet
About 29% 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.
How long De Smet spends getting to work: about 12 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of De Smet workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 459 commuters (the 7% 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.
Who leaves De Smet for work, and who comes in
On a workday 318 residents head out to work, 143 work right here, and 511 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in De Smet on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.42 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.
Out of De Smet to work: where people go
Where De Smet clocks in
5% 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 the 654 jobs in De Smet are
654 jobs are based in De Smet.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in De Smet, 2013 → 2023: 557 → 654. 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 De Smet’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In De Smet, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, De Smet is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place De Smet 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 493 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). 2.1% of De Smet households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of De Smet’s commuters take a bus or train.
De Smet is 1,381st of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Wall Lake Township SD | 1,210 | $129K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | Jefferson Township SD | 1,207 | $196K | 2.0% | 3.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 198 | Baltic SD | 1,344 | $108K | 1.2% | 2.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,379 | Wyalusing Township PA | 1,226 | $90K | 9.7% | 3.9% | 21% | C+ |
| 1,380 | Algonquin MD | 1,074 | $77K | 10.7% | 0.0% | 0% | C+ |
| 1,381 | De Smet SD | 1,032 | $67K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 31% | C+ |
| 1,382 | Schuylkill Township PA | 1,079 | $72K | 9.9% | 4.4% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,383 | Jones Valley CA | 1,122 | $82K | 7.8% | 9.9% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 De Smet, 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 De Smet: questions
What is the median household income in De Smet?
$67,321 (±$15,848) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in De Smet?
4.6%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from De Smet?
12 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in De Smet work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux Falls (9%, 71 mi), Huron (7%, 33 mi), De Smet Township (5%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is De Smet walkable?
De Smet is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around De Smet without a car?
0% 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 De Smet, from the people who make the trip.
More of De Smet
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.