Photo: AlexiusHoratius · CC BY-SA 3.0Work means Sioux Falls for about two in five of Parker’s working residents
3% of workers work from home, next to 10% for South Dakota as a whole. Parker grades B− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Only 7% work in Parker itself; outside it, Sioux Falls draws the most (43%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Parker
43% of Parker works in Sioux Falls
226 working residents, 43%, have their main job in Sioux Falls, 22 miles away. That’s 6 times as many as work in Parker itself. The commute map ↓
Parker workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 25 minutes each way, against 18 across South Dakota. Over a year that’s about 192 hours of commuting, 54 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 524 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Parker
On income, poverty and job access, Parker is better than 45% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Parker’s grade up ($89,676, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 28% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.8%) is left out: Parker’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, Parker could be anywhere from C to B+.
Commuting out of Parker: the destinations
Where Parker clocks in
Lines 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.
Time on the road from Parker: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Parker workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 649 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.
In and out of Parker on a workday
On a workday 486 residents head out to work, 38 work right here, and 293 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Parker on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.63 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.
Jobs in Parker: what the 331 are
331 jobs are based in Parker.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Parker, 2013 → 2023: 268 → 331. 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 Parker’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Parker’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Most of Parker commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Parker is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.3% across South Dakota.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 668 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). 5.5% of Parker households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Parker’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Parker is 2,124th among 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 154 | Wall Lake Township SD | 1,210 | $129K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 196 | Jefferson Township SD | 1,207 | $196K | 2.0% | 3.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 200 | Crooks SD | 1,415 | $99K | 0.5% | 1.4% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,122 | St. Michaels MD | 1,083 | $78K | 5.8% | 7.6% | 11% | B− |
| 2,123 | Mars PA | 1,391 | $51K | 10.0% | 1.0% | 2% | B− |
| 2,124 | Parker SD | 1,349 | $90K | 11.1% | 2.8% | 7% | B− |
| 2,125 | Wyoming Township IL | 1,212 | $69K | 7.6% | 5.9% | 3% | B− |
| 2,126 | Gibson Township PA | 1,010 | $87K | 6.7% | 4.0% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | 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 Parker, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
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 Parker: questions
What is the median household income in Parker?
$89,676 (±$13,040) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Parker?
11.1%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Parker?
25 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 Parker work?
7% work in town.
Is Parker walkable?
Parker is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Parker without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Parker, from the people who make the trip.
More of Parker
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.