With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Fulton works elsewhere
At 17 minutes each way, commutes from Fulton run about the South Dakota average. Fulton has 5 jobs, against 40 working residents. Only 2% work in Fulton itself; outside it, Mitchell draws the most (40%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily commute in and out of Fulton
On a workday 39 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 4 people come in from elsewhere.
About 50 people are in Fulton on a workday afternoon, 41% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Fulton: the destinations
Where Fulton 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 Fulton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fulton, 2013 → 2023: 7 → 5. 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 Fulton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Fulton takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fulton workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 39 commuters (the 11% 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 commute from Fulton, by distance
About 28% 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.
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 Fulton: questions
What is the median household income in Fulton?
$56,667 (±$7,622) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fulton?
11.9%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fulton?
17 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fulton work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mitchell (40%, 11 mi), Sioux Falls (20%, 56 mi), Hanson Township (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Fulton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fulton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fulton
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.