Odd Fellows Home of Dell Rapids · Photo: Amitzel · CC BY-SA 4.0At 0.3%, unemployment in Dell Rapids is lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Dell Rapids are A− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 77% of U.S. towns. About one in seven stay in Dell Rapids for work; outside it, Sioux Falls is the main destination (51%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Dell Rapids
More than half of Dell Rapids works in Sioux Falls
1,081 working residents, 51%, have their main job in Sioux Falls, 20 miles away. That’s 3 times as many as work in Dell Rapids itself. The commute map ↓
Dell Rapids workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 25 minutes each way, against 18 across South Dakota. Over a year that’s about 192 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Many jobs in Dell Rapids pay little
27% of the jobs based in Dell Rapids pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 31% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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 Dell Rapids’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dell Rapids is better than 79% of U.S. towns, #8 of 35 in South Dakota. Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dell Rapids could be anywhere from B to A.
Out of Dell Rapids to work: where people go
Where Dell Rapids clocks in
Lines 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.
About 25 minutes to work from Dell Rapids
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dell Rapids workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,849 commuters (the 8% 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.
What Dell Rapids’ employers do
984 jobs are based in Dell Rapids.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dell Rapids, 2013 → 2023: 797 → 984. 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 Dell Rapids’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Dell Rapids by day and by night
On a workday 1,782 residents head out to work, 338 work right here, and 646 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Dell Rapids on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
0.46 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Dell Rapids
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.
In Dell Rapids, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dell Rapids is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns, #18 of 35 in South Dakota. Both inputs place Dell Rapids 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 1,999 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). 2.9% of Dell Rapids households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dell Rapids’ commuters take a bus or train.
860th of 4,264: where Dell Rapids ranks among U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Split Rock Township SD | 3,086 | $148K | 0.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 371 | Big Sioux Township SD | 5,152 | $128K | 3.2% | 2.7% | 28% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 428 | Dakota Dunes SD | 3,936 | $136K | 2.4% | 3.4% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 858 | Candia NH | 4,248 | $120K | 1.4% | 5.5% | 5% | A− |
| 859 | Fortville IN | 4,951 | $84K | 5.1% | 3.8% | 8% | A− |
| 860 | Dell Rapids SD | 3,852 | $100K | 9.4% | 0.3% | 16% | A− |
| 861 | Jackson Township IN | 2,812 | $96K | 5.3% | 1.2% | 1% | A− |
| 862 | Ida Township MI | 4,808 | $108K | 2.3% | 5.1% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | 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 Dell Rapids, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
Dell Rapids and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Dell Rapids Township (1%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dell Rapids workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dell Rapids | – | A− | B+ | 25 min | $100,170 |
| Dell Rapids Township | 1% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Dell Rapids Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Dell Rapids’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 Dell Rapids: questions
What is the median household income in Dell Rapids?
$100,170 (±$16,641) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dell Rapids?
9.4%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dell Rapids?
25 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dell Rapids work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux Falls (51%, 20 mi), Sverdrup Township (2%, 8 mi), Lyons (1%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dell Rapids walkable?
Dell Rapids is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dell Rapids without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dell Rapids, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dell Rapids
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.