Anton and Mary Agnes Karpen House · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Webster are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Webster is better than 8% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (B+). The poverty rate is 15.1%, where South Dakota as a whole has 11.9%. About two in five stay in Webster for work; outside it, Webster Township is the main destination (9%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Webster, in brief
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Webster
The poverty rate holds Webster’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 4% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.7%) is left out: Webster’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Webster could be anywhere from D− to C−.
The kinds of work in Webster
836 jobs are based in Webster.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Webster, 2013 → 2023: 898 → 836. 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 Webster’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Webster, and who commutes in
On a workday 452 residents head out to work, 352 work right here, and 484 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.04 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.
Commuting out of Webster: the destinations
Where Webster clocks in
9% of workers
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.
Commuting from Webster: about 19 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Webster workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 855 commuters (the 7% 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 in the region Webster works
About 22% 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.
Most trips from Webster start in a car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 916 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). 11.6% of Webster households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Webster’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300, Webster ranks 5,027th of 5,760 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Delapre Township SD | 2,053 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | Springdale Township SD | 2,229 | $151K | 1.3% | 0.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 184 | Wall Lake Township SD | 1,210 | $129K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,025 | Mendenhall MS | 2,115 | $40K | 31.7% | 7.2% | 10% | D |
| 5,026 | Susquehanna Depot PA | 1,336 | $55K | 24.2% | 11.1% | 3% | D |
| 5,027 | Webster SD | 1,681 | $55K | 15.1% | 0.7% | 44% | D |
| 5,028 | Queen City TX | 1,393 | $43K | 21.3% | 6.5% | 2% | D |
| 5,029 | Colebrook NH | 2,110 | $51K | 13.3% | 2.9% | 36% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Webster, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
Around Webster: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Webster workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Webster | – | D | B+ | 19 min | $55,179 |
| Webster Township | 9% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Rusk Township | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Webster Township and Rusk Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Webster Township. Darker towns draw more of Webster’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 Webster: questions
What is the median household income in Webster?
$55,179 (±$6,849) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Webster?
15.1%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Webster?
19 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Webster work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Webster Township (9%, 4 mi), Watertown (5%, 34 mi), Aberdeen (5%, 47 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Webster walkable?
Webster is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Webster without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Webster, from the people who make the trip.
More of Webster
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.