Spink County Courthouse · Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Redfield (2.2%) is lower than in 82% of U.S. towns
About two in five work in Redfield itself; outside it, Redfield Township draws the most (16%, 1 miles). For jobs and income Redfield is better than 46% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (B+). Household incomes here are lower than in 77% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Redfield
Most jobs in Redfield go to people who live here
Of the 957 jobs based in Redfield, 46% are held by Redfield residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Few Redfield workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 10% across South Dakota. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Redfield’s grade explained
Unemployment holds Redfield’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Redfield could be anywhere from C− to B.
How a workday changes Redfield
On a workday 607 residents head out to work, 436 work right here, and 521 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 (0.92 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.
About 14 minutes each way for Redfield’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Redfield workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 916 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.
Where Redfield goes to work
Where Redfield 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.
Inside Redfield’s 957 jobs
957 jobs are based in Redfield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Redfield, 2013 → 2023: 1,004 → 957. 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 Redfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Redfield
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Redfield, the car does most of the work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 941 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). 4.5% of Redfield households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Redfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Redfield is 2,493rd among 5,404 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Delapre Township SD | 2,053 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Springdale Township SD | 2,229 | $151K | 1.3% | 0.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 267 | Mapleton Township SD | 2,063 | $111K | 2.4% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,491 | Union Township IN | 1,841 | $83K | 15.0% | 2.2% | 2% | B− |
| 2,492 | Antrim Township MI | 2,115 | $71K | 10.0% | 4.1% | 1% | B− |
| 2,493 | Redfield SD | 2,114 | $58K | 6.0% | 2.2% | 42% | B− |
| 2,494 | Redgranite WI | 2,113 | $64K | 5.4% | 2.1% | 5% | B− |
| 2,495 | Dresden ME | 1,792 | $75K | 9.3% | 1.2% | 2% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Redfield, 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 Redfield: questions
What is the median household income in Redfield?
$58,229 (±$7,136) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Redfield?
6.0%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Redfield?
14 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 Redfield work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Redfield Township (16%, 1 mi), Aberdeen (5%, 41 mi), Huron (3%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Redfield walkable?
Redfield is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Redfield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Redfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Redfield
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.