Laura M Welch House · Photo: AlexiusHoratius · CC BY-SA 3.0At 2.5%, unemployment in Sioux Falls is lower than in 77% of U.S. towns
More than four in five stay in Sioux Falls for work; outside it, Brandon is the main destination (1%, 8 miles). Sioux Falls grades B+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. The average commute takes 17 minutes each way (South Dakota 18, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Sioux Falls, in brief
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Sioux Falls
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sioux Falls is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #11 of 35 in South Dakota. Unemployment is its strongest input; household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($75,970, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
The South Dakota figures include the city itself, home to 24% of the state’s residents, so the city and state figures are partly the same people.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sioux Falls could be anywhere from B+ to A−.
Who commutes out of Sioux Falls, and who commutes in
On a workday 19,246 residents head out to work, 80,456 work right here, and 49,520 people come in from elsewhere.
About 244,000 people are in Sioux Falls on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.30 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.
Where Sioux Falls goes to work
Where Sioux Falls 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.
Jobs in Sioux Falls: what the 129,976 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sioux Falls, 2013 → 2023: 108,831 → 129,976. 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 Sioux Falls’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Sioux Falls: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sioux Falls workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 99,981 commuters (the 11% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Sioux Falls
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Sioux Falls
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sioux Falls is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #11 of 35 in South Dakota. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.0% 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 111,840 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 59% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 29% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 71% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.5% of Sioux Falls households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Sioux Falls’ commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
For jobs and income, Sioux Falls is 30th of 123 U.S. towns of 150,000 to 289,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| 3 | Olathe KS | 150,025 | $114K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 26% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Elk Grove CA | 185,007 | $126K | 8.0% | 6.4% | 14% | B+ |
| 29 | Lakewood CO | 156,927 | $90K | 9.2% | 4.5% | 18% | B+ |
| 30 | Sioux Falls SD | 213,748 | $76K | 9.6% | 2.5% | 81% | B+ |
| 31 | Pembroke Pines FL | 176,714 | $85K | 10.0% | 4.1% | 10% | B+ |
| 32 | Charleston SC | 159,423 | $92K | 12.3% | 3.4% | 42% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Sioux Falls, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
How Sioux Falls compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sioux Falls workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sioux Falls | – | B+ | A− | 17 min | $75,970 |
| Split Rock Township | under 1% | A+ | D | 19 min | $147,717 |
| Wayne Township | under 1% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Springdale Township | under 1% | A+ | D | 25 min | $151,000 |
| Delapre Township | 1% | A+ | C− | 19 min | $141,058 |
| Brandon Township | under 1% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Mapleton Township | under 1% | A | C | 23 min | $110,972 |
| Benton Township | under 1% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Anderson | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
| Pine Lakes Addition | under 1% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Wayne Township, Brandon Township, Benton Township, Anderson and Pine Lakes Addition: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Delapre Township. Darker towns draw more of Sioux Falls’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 Sioux Falls: questions
What is the median household income in Sioux Falls?
$75,970 (±$2,280) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sioux Falls?
9.6%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sioux Falls?
17 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sioux Falls work?
81% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Brandon (1%, 8 mi), Harrisburg (1%, 7 mi), Delapre Township (1%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sioux Falls walkable?
Sioux Falls is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sioux Falls without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 29% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sioux Falls, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sioux Falls
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.