Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0How Kennebec works: jobs, income and commuting
Working from home is the commute for 23% of workers, against 10% across South Dakota. Only 4% work in Kennebec; the top destination outside it is Presho (11%, 10 miles). The average commute takes 8 minutes each way, where South Dakota has 18 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The workday shuffle in and out of Kennebec
On a workday 93 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 59 people come in from elsewhere.
About 250 people are in Kennebec on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.65 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.
Out of Kennebec to work: where people go
Where Kennebec clocks in
11% of workers
8% of workers
8% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Kennebec
63 jobs are based in Kennebec.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kennebec, 2013 → 2023: 98 → 63. 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 Kennebec’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 8 minutes each way, quicker than most of South Dakota
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 2.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kennebec workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 106 commuters (the 23% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Kennebec
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.
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 Kennebec: questions
What is the median household income in Kennebec?
$74,896 (±$18,180) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kennebec?
6.1%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kennebec?
8 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kennebec work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Presho (11%, 10 mi), Oacoma (8%, 26 mi), Pierre (8%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Kennebec 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 Kennebec, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kennebec
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.