Faulkton American Legion Hall · Photo: Blysm · CC BY-SA 3.0How Faulkton works: jobs, income and commuting
Home is the office for 2% of workers; South Dakota has 10%. About one in four work in Faulkton; the top destination outside it is Aberdeen (8%, 44 miles). Commuters spend 16 minutes getting to work on average; the South Dakota average is 18, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Faulkton apart
Faulkton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Faulkton is Aberdeen, 44 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (19) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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 253 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Faulkton
About 33% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Faulkton
On a workday 183 residents head out to work, 70 work right here, and 246 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 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.
Where Faulkton goes to work
Where Faulkton 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.
Services make up most of the work in Faulkton
316 jobs are based in Faulkton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Faulkton, 2013 → 2023: 389 → 316. 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 Faulkton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Faulkton: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Faulkton workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 268 commuters (the 2% 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 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 Faulkton: questions
What is the median household income in Faulkton?
$63,750 (±$26,966) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Faulkton?
13.4%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Faulkton?
16 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Faulkton work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Aberdeen (8%, 44 mi), Redfield (5%, 32 mi), Sioux Falls (5%, 157 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Faulkton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Faulkton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Faulkton
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.