Holy Trinity Church · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Kimball at work: jobs, income and the commute
Commuters spend 17 minutes getting to work on average, where South Dakota has 18 and the U.S. 26. About one in seven stay in Kimball for work; outside it, Chamberlain is the main destination (15%, 19 miles). 283 jobs are based in Kimball, and 212 of its residents work somewhere.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Kimball
The distance from Kimball to work
About 43% 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.
Kimball by day and by night
On a workday 180 residents head out to work, 32 work right here, and 251 people come in from elsewhere.
About 650 people are in Kimball on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 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.
Where Kimball goes to work
Where Kimball 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 kinds of work in Kimball
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kimball, 2013 → 2023: 207 → 283. 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 Kimball’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 17 minutes in Kimball
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kimball workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 245 commuters (the 6% 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.
Kimball and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Kimball Township (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kimball workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kimball | – | — | — | 17 min | $52,917 |
| Kimball Township | 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Kimball Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kimball’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Kimball: questions
What is the median household income in Kimball?
$52,917 (±$18,261) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kimball?
7.8%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kimball?
17 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kimball work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chamberlain (15%, 19 mi), Sioux Falls (12%, 112 mi), Mitchell (6%, 46 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Kimball without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kimball, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kimball
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.