Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0Rapid City draws about three in four of Rapid Valley’s working residents
Only 1% work in Rapid Valley itself; outside it, Rapid City draws the most (76%, 5 miles). Rapid Valley grades B+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. A typical one-way commute lasts 20 minutes, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Rapid Valley, in brief
Most Rapid Valley residents work close to home
83% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Rapid Valley is a place people come home to
There are 487 jobs based in Rapid Valley, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Rapid Valley has about 3,100 people in it, 55% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Rapid Valley’s working residents have a job less than 5 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 20 minutes, longer than the South Dakota average of 18. 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.
Where Rapid Valley’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rapid Valley is better than 66% of U.S. towns, #12 of 35 in South Dakota. The poverty rate holds Rapid Valley’s grade up (4.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 48% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rapid Valley could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Rapid Valley
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.
Rapid Valley by day and by night
On a workday 4,265 residents head out to work, 48 work right here, and 439 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Rapid Valley on a workday afternoon, 55% fewer than live here.
0.11 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.
How long Rapid Valley spends getting to work: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rapid Valley workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,606 commuters (the 9% 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.
Where people from Rapid Valley work
Where Rapid Valley clocks in
76% 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.
What work there is in Rapid Valley: 487 jobs
487 jobs are based in Rapid Valley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rapid Valley, 2013 → 2023: 273 → 487. 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 Rapid Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Rapid Valley: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rapid Valley is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns, #25 of 35 in South Dakota. Both inputs place Rapid Valley near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,972 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). 5.2% of Rapid Valley households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rapid Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,308th of 3,167: where Rapid Valley ranks among U.S. towns of 4,900 to 9,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 286 | Tea SD | 8,019 | $120K | 4.7% | 2.0% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 382 | Big Sioux Township SD | 5,152 | $128K | 3.2% | 2.7% | 28% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,306 | Newberry Township OH | 6,623 | $72K | 3.8% | 4.2% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,307 | Bethlehem Township OH | 5,519 | $71K | 8.9% | 2.9% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,308 | Rapid Valley SD | 6,975 | $83K | 4.5% | 4.3% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,309 | Pittsgrove Township NJ | 9,039 | $93K | 8.5% | 5.0% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,310 | Peru NY | 6,669 | $102K | 8.9% | 1.6% | 14% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,092 | Sturgis SD | 6,922 | $54K | 9.2% | 3.0% | 33% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,167 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Rapid Valley, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
Next door is work for 79% of Rapid Valley
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rapid Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rapid Valley | – | B+ | B− | 20 min | $83,208 |
| Rapid City | 76% | B− | B+ | 18 min | $70,870 |
| Box Elder | 3% | B− | C+ | 20 min | $73,008 |
| Green Valley | under 1% | B+ | D− | 38 min | $81,582 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Rapid City. Darker towns draw more of Rapid Valley’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Rapid Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Rapid Valley?
$83,208 (±$12,390) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rapid Valley?
4.5%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rapid Valley?
20 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rapid Valley work?
1% work in town.
Is Rapid Valley walkable?
Rapid Valley is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rapid Valley 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 Rapid Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rapid Valley
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.