Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0Where New Underwood earns its living
The average commute takes 27 minutes each way, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. About one in ten work in New Underwood; the top destination outside it is Rapid City (38%, 19 miles). Home is the office for 3% of workers, where South Dakota as a whole has 10%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in New Underwood, in a few figures
38% of New Underwood works in Rapid City
99 working residents, 38%, have their main job in Rapid City, 19 miles away. That’s 5 times as many as work in New Underwood itself. The commute map ↓
New Underwood workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 27 minutes each way, against 18 across South Dakota. Over a year that’s about 207 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 262 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Commuting out of New Underwood: the destinations
Where New Underwood clocks in
38% of workers
14% 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.
From New Underwood, about 27 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Underwood workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 184 commuters (the 3% 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.
New Underwood quiets down on a workday
On a workday 241 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 138 people come in from elsewhere.
About 490 people are in New Underwood on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.61 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 2024, primary jobs.
Jobs in New Underwood: what the 159 are
159 jobs are based in New Underwood.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Underwood, 2014 → 2024: 142 → 159. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs New Underwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region New Underwood works
About 19% 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 2024.
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 2024, 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 New Underwood: questions
What is the median household income in New Underwood?
$56,250 (±$43,662) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Underwood?
25.8%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Underwood?
27 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Underwood work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rapid City (38%, 19 mi), Wall (14%, 30 mi), Box Elder (8%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around New Underwood without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Underwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Underwood
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.