Freeman’s household incomes are lower than in 78% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 20.9% of residents (South Dakota 11.9%). The two grades for Freeman are D for jobs and income and A for walkability. About one in four work in Freeman; the top destination outside it is Sioux Falls (15%, 38 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Freeman and work: the main findings
Income, poverty and work: Freeman’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Freeman is better than 6% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Freeman’s grade.
Unemployment (2.5%) is left out: Freeman’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, Freeman could be anywhere from D− to C.
How far it is to work from Freeman
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.
A workday in Freeman: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 406 residents head out to work, 136 work right here, and 557 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Freeman on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 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.
The towns that employ Freeman’s residents
Where Freeman 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.
The 693 jobs based in Freeman
693 jobs are based in Freeman.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Freeman, 2013 → 2023: 718 → 693. 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 Freeman’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 16 minutes each way, quicker than most of South Dakota
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Freeman workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 720 commuters (the 3% 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.
Freeman is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Freeman is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 11.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.3% across South Dakota, on an EPA index of 8.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 746 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). 2.9% of Freeman households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Freeman’s commuters take a bus or train.
Freeman next to U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800: 4,775th of 5,400 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 154 | Wall Lake Township SD | 1,210 | $129K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 196 | Jefferson Township SD | 1,207 | $196K | 2.0% | 3.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 200 | Crooks SD | 1,415 | $99K | 0.5% | 1.4% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,773 | Mansfield AR | 1,066 | $53K | 23.5% | 6.8% | 6% | D |
| 4,774 | Hawesville KY | 1,017 | $50K | 29.8% | 4.0% | 11% | D |
| 4,775 | Freeman SD | 1,305 | $57K | 20.9% | 2.5% | 25% | D |
| 4,776 | Bruceton TN | 1,522 | $45K | 19.1% | 2.8% | 10% | D |
| 4,777 | Washington Township IN | 1,017 | $54K | 19.7% | 7.6% | 4% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | 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 Freeman, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
How Freeman compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Valley Township (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Freeman workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freeman | – | D | A | 16 min | $57,440 |
| Grandview Township | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Valley Township | 4% | — | — | 8 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Grandview Township and Valley Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Freeman’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 Freeman: questions
What is the median household income in Freeman?
$57,440 (±$5,499) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Freeman?
20.9%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Freeman?
16 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Freeman work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux Falls (15%, 38 mi), Menno (13%, 10 mi), Valley Township (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Freeman walkable?
Freeman is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Freeman without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Freeman, from the people who make the trip.
More of Freeman
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.