Making a living in Menno
The average commute takes 15 minutes each way; South Dakota averages 18, the U.S. 26. About one in seven work in Menno itself; outside it, Freeman draws the most (24%, 10 miles). There are 344 jobs in Menno; 227 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Menno: the gist
Menno and Freeman trade workers both ways
Freeman is the top workplace for Menno residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Menno come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Menno makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Menno are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Menno residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 19%. 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; with 227 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where the people who work in Menno live
Where Menno clocks in
4% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 36% of the jobs in Menno
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Menno, 2013 → 2023: 289 → 344. 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 Menno’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Menno
On a workday 189 residents head out to work, 38 work right here, and 306 people come in from elsewhere.
About 740 people are in Menno on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Commuting from Menno: about 15 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Menno workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 263 commuters (the 11% 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.
How far Menno’s workers travel
About 16% 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 Menno: questions
What is the median household income in Menno?
$65,833 (±$21,767) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Menno?
9.0%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Menno?
15 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Menno work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Freeman (24%, 10 mi), Sioux Falls (15%, 47 mi), Yankton (4%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Menno without a car?
0% 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 Menno, from the people who make the trip.
More of Menno
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.