Tripp County Veteran's Memorial · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Household incomes in Winner trail those of 91% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 2% of workers, where South Dakota as a whole has 10%. 28.2% of residents live below the poverty line (South Dakota 11.9%). Winner grades D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Winner
Most jobs in Winner go to people who live here
Of the 1,385 jobs based in Winner, 47% are held by Winner residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Winner are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 18 across South Dakota. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical South Dakota worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Winner workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 10% across South Dakota. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Winner
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Winner is better than 14% of U.S. towns, #35 of 35 in South Dakota. Unemployment holds Winner’s grade up (2.8%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Winner could be anywhere from D− to C.
Who leaves Winner for work, and who comes in
On a workday 610 residents head out to work, 650 work right here, and 735 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 (1.10 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.
About 12 minutes each way for Winner’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Winner workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,157 commuters (the 2% 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 Winner goes to work
Where Winner 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.
What work there is in Winner: 1,385 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Winner, 2013 → 2023: 1,456 → 1,385. 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 Winner’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Winner commutes
About 27% 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.
Driving is how Winner gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Winner is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #16 of 35 in South Dakota. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.3% across South Dakota, on an EPA index of 6.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,176 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). 12.6% of Winner households have no vehicle (South Dakota 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Winner’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000, Winner ranks 3,920th of 4,618 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Split Rock Township SD | 3,086 | $148K | 0.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Springdale Township SD | 2,229 | $151K | 1.3% | 0.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 396 | Dakota Dunes SD | 3,936 | $136K | 2.4% | 3.4% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,918 | Yadkinville NC | 3,055 | $53K | 21.4% | 6.5% | 15% | D |
| 3,919 | Cambridge Springs PA | 2,361 | $54K | 18.2% | 7.3% | 8% | D |
| 3,920 | Winner SD | 2,969 | $47K | 28.2% | 2.8% | 52% | D |
| 3,921 | Desert Edge CA | 3,778 | $37K | 17.8% | 6.0% | 2% | D |
| 3,922 | Campbell FL | 2,123 | $40K | 35.6% | 12.9% | 1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Winner, the top three, the last and three more from South Dakota.
Winner and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Lamro Township (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Winner workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | – | D | B+ | 12 min | $47,381 |
| Lamro Township | 4% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lamro Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Winner’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 Winner: questions
What is the median household income in Winner?
$47,381 (±$11,744) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Winner?
28.2%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Winner?
12 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Winner work?
52% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lamro Township (4%, 2 mi), Sioux Falls (4%, 157 mi), Black Township (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Winner walkable?
Winner is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Winner without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Winner, from the people who make the trip.
More of Winner
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.