Garden City has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Hardly any stay in Garden City for work; outside it, Watertown is the main destination (27%, 21 miles). There are 5 jobs in Garden City; 11 of its residents have a job. A typical one-way commute from Garden City lasts 47 minutes (South Dakota 18, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Garden City by day and by night
On a workday 11 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 5 people come in from elsewhere.
About 30 people are in Garden City on a workday afternoon, 17% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Out of Garden City to work: where people go
Where Garden City clocks in
27% 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.
The kinds of work in Garden City
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Garden City, 2014 → 2024: 1 → 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Garden City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Garden City spends getting to work: about 47 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Garden City workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 37 commuters (the 5% 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.
How far it is to work from Garden City
About 45% 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 2024.
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 2024, 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 Garden City: questions
What is the median household income in Garden City?
$93,750 (±$69,653) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Garden City?
4.0%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Garden City?
47 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Garden City work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Watertown (27%, 21 mi), Willow Lake (18%, 23 mi), Sioux Falls (18%, 107 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Garden City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Garden City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Garden City
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.