Photo: Mrs.Wessington · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Wessington works elsewhere
Only 1% work in Wessington; the top destination outside it is Huron (27%, 25 miles). 34 jobs are based in Wessington, against 81 working residents. 4% of workers work from home, next to 10% for South Dakota as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Wessington on a workday afternoon
On a workday 80 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 33 people come in from elsewhere.
About 150 people are in Wessington on a workday afternoon, 23% 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.
Commuting out of Wessington: the destinations
Where Wessington 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.
Goods jobs make up 41% of work in Wessington
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wessington, 2013 → 2023: 50 → 34. 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 Wessington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 14 minutes in Wessington
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wessington workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 107 commuters (the 4% 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.
The commute from Wessington, by distance
About 31% 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.
Wessington and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wessington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wessington | – | — | — | 14 min | $58,125 |
| Whiteside Township | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
| Hulbert Township | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
| Wessington Township | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
| Grand Township | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Whiteside Township, Hulbert Township, Wessington Township and Grand Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wessington’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 Wessington: questions
What is the median household income in Wessington?
$58,125 (±$31,589) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wessington?
21.4%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wessington?
14 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wessington work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Huron (27%, 25 mi), Sioux Falls (7%, 116 mi), Wolsey (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Wessington 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 Wessington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wessington
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.