Photo: John Lee Lopez · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Lemmon have lower incomes than those in 88% of U.S. towns
About two in five work in Lemmon itself; outside it, Bison draws the most (14%, 32 miles). The poverty rate is 22.0%, next to 11.9% for South Dakota as a whole. Jobs and income earn Lemmon D−; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Lemmon, in brief
Lemmon’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lemmon is Bison, 32 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (63) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Lemmon are quick
The average trip to work takes 9 minutes, against 18 across South Dakota. That’s about 69 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; with 460 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Lemmon’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Lemmon is better than 2% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Lemmon’s grade.
Unemployment (5.1%) is left out: Lemmon’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, Lemmon could be anywhere from D− to D.
Short hops and long hauls from Lemmon
About 35% 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.
Time on the road from Lemmon: about 9 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lemmon 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.
A workday in Lemmon: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 284 residents head out to work, 176 work right here, and 487 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Lemmon on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.44 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.
The towns that employ Lemmon’s residents
Where Lemmon clocks in
14% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
The kinds of work in Lemmon
663 jobs are based in Lemmon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lemmon, 2013 → 2023: 658 → 663. 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 Lemmon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Lemmon is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lemmon is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Lemmon 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 544 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). 8.6% of Lemmon households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lemmon’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lemmon next to 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 |
| … | |||||||
| 4,094 | Duck Hill MS | 1,414 | $34K | 22.9% | 3.9% | 1% | D− |
| 4,095 | Monticello MS | 1,378 | $34K | 25.4% | 9.8% | 14% | D− |
| 4,096 | Lemmon SD | 1,158 | $50K | 22.0% | 5.1% | 38% | D− |
| 4,097 | Curtis Township MI | 1,145 | $39K | 16.3% | 2.1% | 8% | D− |
| 4,098 | Stamps AR | 1,181 | $37K | 25.8% | 13.9% | 14% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Lemmon, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
Around Lemmon: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Lincoln Township (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lemmon workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lemmon | – | D− | A− | 9 min | $50,147 |
| Lincoln Township | 3% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lincoln Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lemmon’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 Lemmon: questions
What is the median household income in Lemmon?
$50,147 (±$16,077) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lemmon?
22.0%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lemmon?
9 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lemmon work?
38% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bison (14%, 32 mi), Faith (4%, 63 mi), Rapid City (3%, 139 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lemmon walkable?
Lemmon is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lemmon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lemmon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lemmon
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.