Pyle House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Unemployment in Huron (2.6%) is lower than in 76% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income C: better than 34% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #31 of 35 in South Dakota.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns · #13 of 35 in South Dakota.
Household incomes here are lower than in 72% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 12 minutes each way (South Dakota 18, U.S. 26). More than half work in Huron; the top destination outside it is Alpena (6%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Huron
Most jobs in Huron go to people who live here
Of the 6,433 jobs based in Huron, 55% are held by Huron residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Huron are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 18 across South Dakota. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical South Dakota 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.
What’s behind Huron’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Huron is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #31 of 35 in South Dakota. Unemployment holds Huron’s grade up (2.6%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Huron could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 2,718 residents head out to work, 3,546 work right here, and 2,887 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 (1.03 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.
About 12 minutes each way, quicker than most of South Dakota
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Huron workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,564 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.
6% of working residents work in Alpena
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Huron clocks in
Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Huron makes things: 28% of its jobs are in goods
6,433 jobs are based in Huron. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Huron’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Huron, 2013 → 2023: 6,768 → 6,433. 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.
Half of Huron commutes less than 3 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 24% 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.
Huron 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, Huron is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns, #13 of 35 in South Dakota. Both inputs place Huron near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,934 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). 11.2% of Huron households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Huron’s commuters take a bus or train.
Huron is 1,784th of 2,362 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Huron, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Harrisburg SD | 10,405 | $109K | 0.5% | 1.0% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 148 | Brandon SD | 11,306 | $111K | 1.4% | 1.2% | 17% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,265 | Pierre SD | 13,848 | $78K | 10.1% | 1.2% | 65% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,782 | Gatesville TX | 16,422 | $57K | 9.1% | 4.5% | 22% | C |
| 1,783 | Bardstown KY | 14,161 | $51K | 14.7% | 4.0% | 34% | C |
| 1,784 | Huron SD | 14,607 | $61K | 16.1% | 2.6% | 57% | C |
| 1,785 | Bethel Township OH | 17,987 | $67K | 14.1% | 7.6% | 9% | C |
| 1,786 | Lockhart FL | 15,371 | $70K | 17.9% | 9.2% | 3% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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.
Huron and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Morningside (1%). Darker towns draw more of Huron’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Huron workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huron | – | C | A− | 12 min | $61,452 |
| Custer Township | under 1% | — | — | 12 min | — |
| Clyde Township | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
| Valley Township | under 1% | — | — | 8 min | — |
| Theresa Township | under 1% | — | — | 14 min | — |
| Morningside | 1% | — | — | 9 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Custer Township, Clyde Township, Valley Township, Theresa Township and Morningside: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Huron: questions
What is the median household income in Huron?
$61,452 (±$11,462) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Huron?
16.1%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Huron?
12 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 Huron work?
57% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Alpena (6%, 15 mi), Sioux Falls (4%, 93 mi), Mitchell (3%, 45 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Huron walkable?
Huron is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Huron without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Huron, from the people who make the trip.
More of Huron
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.