Photo: Gary Chancey, Black Hills National Forest · Public domainUnemployment in Lead (0.0%) is among the lowest in the country
Jobs & income B: better than 60% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #13 of 35 in South Dakota.
Walkability B: more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns · #21 of 35 in South Dakota.
Household incomes here are lower than in 53% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 20 minutes each way (South Dakota 18, U.S. 26). About one in five work in Lead; the top destination outside it is Deadwood (38%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Lead, in brief
The jobs in Lead pay better than its residents’ jobs
69% of the jobs based in Lead pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 47% of the jobs Lead residents hold. 71% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Lead. The jobs ↓
38% of Lead works in Deadwood
558 working residents, 38%, have their main job in Deadwood, 3.3 miles away across the town line. That’s twice as many as work in Lead itself. The commute map ↓
Most Lead residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Lead’s working residents have a job less than 3 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 20 minutes, longer than the South Dakota average of 18. Time on the road ↓
Lead has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Lead went from 650 in 2013 to 906 in 2023, +39%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Lead’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lead is better than 60% of U.S. towns, #13 of 35 in South Dakota. Unemployment holds Lead’s grade up (0.0%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lead could be anywhere from C to A−.
69% of the jobs in Lead pay over $3,333 a month
906 jobs are based in Lead. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lead’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lead, 2013 → 2023: 650 → 906. 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.
38% of working residents work in Deadwood
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Lead clocks in
8% of workers
7% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Lead 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.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
About 20 minutes each way, longer 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 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lead workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,736 commuters (the 2% 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.
Lead quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,195 residents head out to work, 262 work right here, and 644 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Lead on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.62 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.
Most trips from Lead start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lead is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #21 of 35 in South Dakota. Both inputs place Lead 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 1,772 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). 4.2% of Lead households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Lead’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lead is 1,764th of 4,771 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Lead, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Split Rock Township SD | 3,086 | $148K | 0.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 112 | Springdale Township SD | 2,229 | $151K | 1.3% | 0.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 413 | Dakota Dunes SD | 3,936 | $136K | 2.4% | 3.4% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,762 | Hallam PA | 2,798 | $75K | 17.5% | 2.7% | 2% | B |
| 1,763 | Muncy PA | 2,383 | $86K | 8.4% | 4.4% | 5% | B |
| 1,764 | Lead SD | 3,064 | $73K | 7.5% | 0.0% | 18% | B |
| 1,765 | Nichols NY | 2,290 | $82K | 4.9% | 3.6% | 7% | B |
| 1,766 | Welcome NC | 3,521 | $63K | 9.3% | 3.3% | 7% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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.
38% of Lead works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Deadwood (38%). Darker towns draw more of Lead’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 Lead: questions
What is the median household income in Lead?
$73,047 (±$33,268) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lead?
7.5%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lead?
20 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lead work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Deadwood (38%, 3 mi), Rapid City (8%, 33 mi), Spearfish (7%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lead walkable?
Lead is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lead without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lead, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lead
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.