Most of Spencer commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Hardly any work in Spencer itself; outside it, Sioux Falls draws the most (27%, 45 miles). There are 11 jobs in Spencer, and 56 of its residents work somewhere. Commuters spend 28 minutes getting to work on average; South Dakota averages 18, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes Spencer
On a workday 56 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 11 people come in from elsewhere.
About 94 people are in Spencer on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Spencer’s residents
Where Spencer clocks in
16% 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.
Spencer is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spencer, 2013 → 2023: 10 → 11. 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 Spencer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Spencer: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spencer workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 52 commuters (the 13% 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 it is to work from Spencer
About 20% 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.
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 Spencer: questions
What is the median household income in Spencer?
$67,188 (±$29,172) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spencer?
2.9%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spencer?
28 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Spencer work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux Falls (27%, 45 mi), Salem (16%, 10 mi), Montrose (9%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Spencer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spencer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spencer
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.