Photo: Jerry Huddleston from Hampton, Minnesota, US · CC BY 2.0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Whitewood works elsewhere
Employers in Whitewood report 131 jobs, and 395 of its residents work somewhere. Only 2% stay in Whitewood for work; outside it, Spearfish is the main destination (35%, 9 miles). Working residents average 25 minutes each way, where South Dakota has 18 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Whitewood: the figures worth knowing
Whitewood and Spearfish trade workers both ways
Spearfish is the top workplace for Whitewood residents (35%) and also where the most people who work in Whitewood come from (31% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Whitewood workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 25 minutes each way, against 18 across South Dakota. Over a year that’s about 192 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. 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; with 395 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Commuting out of Whitewood: the destinations
Where Whitewood clocks in
35% of workers
16% of workers
7% 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.
From Whitewood, about 25 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Whitewood workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 436 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.
A workday in Whitewood: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 389 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 125 people come in from elsewhere.
About 720 people are in Whitewood on a workday afternoon, 27% 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.
Making and building: 30% of jobs based in Whitewood
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Whitewood, 2013 → 2023: 76 → 131. 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 Whitewood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Whitewood
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 Whitewood: questions
What is the median household income in Whitewood?
$77,500 (±$19,272) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Whitewood?
2.0%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Whitewood?
25 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 Whitewood work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Spearfish (35%, 9 mi), Rapid City (16%, 34 mi), Sturgis (7%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Whitewood without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Whitewood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Whitewood
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.