Photo: Southeast South Dakota Tourism · CC BY-SA 4.0For more than half of its working residents, Garretson is a commute to Sioux Falls
Measured by household income, Garretson is behind 74% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Garretson is better than 48% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (C). Only 5% work in Garretson itself; outside it, Sioux Falls draws the most (56%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Garretson and work: the main findings
More than half of Garretson works in Sioux Falls
348 working residents, 56%, have their main job in Sioux Falls, 17 miles away. That’s 11 times as many as work in Garretson itself. The commute map ↓
Garretson workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 26 minutes each way, against 18 across South Dakota. Over a year that’s about 199 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 622 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Garretson
The poverty rate holds Garretson’s grade up (5.3%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($59,741, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (6.4%) is left out: Garretson’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, Garretson could be anywhere from C to B.
Out of Garretson to work: where people go
Where Garretson 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 trip to work from Garretson: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Garretson workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 495 commuters (the 9% 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 many people are in Garretson by day
On a workday 594 residents head out to work, 28 work right here, and 267 people come in from elsewhere.
About 850 people are in Garretson on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.47 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.
The kinds of work in Garretson
295 jobs are based in Garretson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Garretson, 2013 → 2023: 325 → 295. 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 Garretson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Garretson’s commute, mile by mile
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 Garretson, most people drive to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 541 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). 0.5% of Garretson households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Garretson’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,540th of 4,312: where Garretson ranks among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 122 | Wall Lake Township SD | 1,210 | $129K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 149 | Jefferson Township SD | 1,207 | $196K | 2.0% | 3.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 152 | Crooks SD | 1,415 | $99K | 0.5% | 1.4% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,538 | Burrton Township KS | 1,011 | $80K | 9.6% | 6.0% | 5% | B− |
| 1,539 | Sunriver OR | 1,488 | $82K | 6.7% | 0.0% | 12% | B− |
| 1,540 | Garretson SD | 1,174 | $60K | 5.3% | 6.4% | 5% | B− |
| 1,541 | Malta Township IL | 1,528 | $85K | 17.7% | 2.1% | 4% | B− |
| 1,542 | Farming Township MN | 1,018 | $95K | 11.4% | 0.6% | <1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | 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 Garretson, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
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 Garretson: questions
What is the median household income in Garretson?
$59,741 (±$11,054) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Garretson?
5.3%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Garretson?
26 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 Garretson work?
5% work in town.
Is Garretson walkable?
Garretson is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Garretson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Garretson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Garretson
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.