Photo: Connor401 · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Sisseton have lower incomes than those in 89% of U.S. towns
About half work in Sisseton; the top destination outside it is Greendale Township (6%, 24 miles). 18.7% of residents live below the poverty line; South Dakota has 11.9%. Jobs and income earn Sisseton D; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Sisseton apart
Sisseton is where the jobs are
Sisseton has 1,730 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Sisseton are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 18 across South Dakota. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical South Dakota 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Sisseton
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sisseton is better than 7% of U.S. towns. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Sisseton’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sisseton could be anywhere from D− to C.
Sisseton fills up on a workday
On a workday 526 residents head out to work, 542 work right here, and 1,188 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Sisseton on a workday afternoon, 27% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Each way, about 12 minutes from Sisseton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sisseton workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 998 commuters (the 6% 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 Sisseton’s workers come from
Where Sisseton clocks in
5% 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 Sisseton: 1,730 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sisseton, 2013 → 2023: 1,708 → 1,730. 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 Sisseton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Sisseton commutes
About 18% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Sisseton
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sisseton is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Sisseton 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 1,058 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). 9.2% of Sisseton households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Sisseton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Sisseton sits among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Split Rock Township SD | 3,086 | $148K | 0.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Delapre Township SD | 2,053 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Springdale Township SD | 2,229 | $151K | 1.3% | 0.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,708 | Badin NC | 1,915 | $53K | 19.6% | 7.4% | <1% | D |
| 4,709 | Mansfield PA | 2,937 | $48K | 25.1% | 6.1% | 17% | D |
| 4,710 | Sisseton SD | 2,413 | $49K | 18.7% | 6.1% | 51% | D |
| 4,711 | Burlington KS | 2,640 | $51K | 16.8% | 6.9% | 34% | D |
| 4,712 | Marlette MI | 1,833 | $49K | 18.0% | 10.3% | 20% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | 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 Sisseton, 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 Sisseton: questions
What is the median household income in Sisseton?
$48,875 (±$3,078) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sisseton?
18.7%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sisseton?
12 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sisseton work?
51% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greendale Township (6%, 24 mi), Agency Village (5%, 6 mi), Bryant Township (3%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sisseton walkable?
Sisseton is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sisseton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sisseton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sisseton
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.