Work means Sioux Falls for about two in three of Tea’s working residents
Jobs and income earn Tea A; getting around on foot earns it B. Measured by household income, Tea is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. 20% of workers have no commute at all; South Dakota has 10%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Tea, in brief
More than half of Tea works in Sioux Falls
2,286 working residents, 67%, have their main job in Sioux Falls, 7.5 miles away. That’s 7 times as many as work in Tea itself. The commute map ↓
Most Tea residents work close to home
74% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Tea’s working residents have a job less than 8 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 20 minutes, longer than the South Dakota average of 18. Time on the road ↓
Tea has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Tea went from 1,316 in 2013 to 2,006 in 2023, +52%. The jobs ↓
A lot of Tea works from home
20% of Tea workers work from home, against 10% across South Dakota. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Tea’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tea is better than 93% of U.S. towns, #4 of 35 in South Dakota. Household income is its strongest input ($120,139, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 71% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tea could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Commuting out of Tea: the destinations
Where Tea 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.
The distance from Tea to work
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.
Commuting from Tea: about 20 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tea workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,008 commuters (the 20% 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.
Tea works in goods: 29% of its jobs
2,006 jobs are based in Tea.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tea, 2013 → 2023: 1,316 → 2,006. 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 Tea’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Tea
On a workday 3,083 residents head out to work, 334 work right here, and 1,672 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,600 people are in Tea on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.59 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.
In Tea, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tea is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns, #23 of 35 in South Dakota. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.4% 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 3,745 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 0.0% of Tea households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Tea’s commuters take a bus or train.
Tea places 293rd of 3,015 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 5,600 to 10,800
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | Harrisburg SD | 10,405 | $109K | 0.5% | 1.0% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 291 | Washington WI | 7,478 | $110K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 3% | A |
| 292 | Fort Wright KY | 6,240 | $105K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| 293 | Tea SD | 8,019 | $120K | 4.7% | 2.0% | 10% | A |
| 294 | Woodway TX | 9,753 | $115K | 3.8% | 2.5% | 5% | A |
| 295 | Fancy Creek Township IL | 5,806 | $145K | 4.1% | 1.9% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,279 | Rapid Valley SD | 6,975 | $83K | 4.5% | 4.3% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,014 | Sturgis SD | 6,922 | $54K | 9.2% | 3.0% | 33% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,015 | 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 Tea, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
Next door to Tea
The biggest share goes to Delapre Township (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tea workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tea | – | A | B | 20 min | $120,139 |
| Delapre Township | 4% | A+ | C− | 19 min | $141,058 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Tea’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 Tea: questions
What is the median household income in Tea?
$120,139 (±$19,287) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tea?
4.7%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tea?
20 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tea work?
10% work in town.
Is Tea walkable?
Tea is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tea without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tea, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tea
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.