Jobs, income and commuting in Onaka, SD
Hardly any work in Onaka; the top destination outside it is Yale (17%, 89 miles). Working from home is the commute for 62% of workers, against 10% across South Dakota. 7 jobs are based in Onaka for 6 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 6 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 7 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.17 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.
Out of Onaka to work: where people go
Where Onaka clocks in
17% 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.
86% of the jobs in Onaka make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Onaka, 2013 → 2023: 1 → 7. 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 Onaka’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Onaka
of Onaka workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3 commuters (the 62% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Onaka
About 83% 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.
- Two counts of out-of-state work. The Census survey asks workers where they work: 0% of Onaka workers work outside South Dakota. The job records count 17% at employers in other states. The records use the address the employer reports and skip the self-employed, so the two can differ.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Onaka: questions
What is the poverty rate in Onaka?
100.0%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Onaka work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Yale (17%, 89 mi), Faulkton (17%, 20 mi), Pierre (17%, 70 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Onaka without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Onaka, from the people who make the trip.
More of Onaka
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.