Earning a living in Porcupine
0% of workers have no commute at all, where South Dakota as a whole has 10%. Only 5% stay in Porcupine for work; outside it, Batesland is the main destination (7%, 15 miles). 127 jobs are based in Porcupine for 86 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Porcupine on a workday afternoon
On a workday 82 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 123 people come in from elsewhere.
About 470 people are in Porcupine on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.48 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The places Porcupine commutes to
Where Porcupine clocks in
6% 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.
Most jobs in Porcupine are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
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 Porcupine’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Porcupine
of Porcupine workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 24 commuters (the 0% 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 Porcupine goes to work
About 21% 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 Porcupine: questions
What is the poverty rate in Porcupine?
79.7%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Porcupine work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Batesland (7%, 15 mi), Rapid City (6%, 71 mi), Pine Ridge (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Porcupine without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Porcupine, from the people who make the trip.
More of Porcupine
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.