Jobs and earnings in Ward, and the trip to work
Commuters spend 21 minutes getting to work on average; the South Dakota average is 18, the U.S. 26. Working from home is the commute for 0% of workers, next to 10% for South Dakota as a whole. Hardly any work in Ward; the top destination outside it is Sioux Falls (31%, 44 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in Ward, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 16 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 20 people come in from elsewhere.
About 46 people are in Ward on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 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 Ward goes to work
Where Ward clocks in
13% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Ward
20 jobs are based in Ward.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ward, 2013 → 2023: 11 → 20. 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 Ward’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 21 minutes to work from Ward
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ward workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 41 commuters (the 0% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Ward
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 Ward: questions
What is the median household income in Ward?
$76,875 (±$39,151) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ward?
0.0%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ward?
21 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ward work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux Falls (31%, 44 mi), Colman (19%, 21 mi), Egan Township (13%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Ward without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ward, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ward
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.