Inyan Kara Mountain · Photo: User:Runner1928 · CC0Sundance draws 842 commuters a day, with 3.1 jobs for every working resident
938 jobs are based in Sundance, and 300 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Sundance C; getting around on foot earns it B. About one in three work in Sundance; the top destination outside it is Rapid City (5%, 61 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Sundance apart on work
Sundance has far more jobs than workers
Sundance has 938 jobs, 3.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,800 people are in town, 56% more than the 1,100 who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
39% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Sundance are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 19 across Wyoming. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Wyoming 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 300 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Sundance’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Sundance is better than 33% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Sundance’s grade up (4.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down.
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Sundance’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Sundance could be anywhere from D to B.
A workday in Sundance: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 204 residents head out to work and 96 work right here.
About 1,800 people are in Sundance on a workday afternoon, 56% more 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.
Miles to work from Sundance
About 39% 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.
A commute of about 13 minutes in Sundance
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sundance workers work from home, vs 9% across Wyoming. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 458 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Wyoming: 83% 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.
Commuting in to Sundance: where workers come from
Where Sundance clocks in
5% of workers
4% 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.
In Sundance, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sundance, 2013 → 2023: 936 → 938. 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 Sundance’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Sundance: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sundance is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Sundance near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 492 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). 1.6% of Sundance households have no vehicle (Wyoming 4.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sundance’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,949th of 3,771: where Sundance ranks among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 318 | Rafter J Ranch WY | 1,293 | $161K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 423 | Hoback WY | 1,316 | $147K | 1.7% | 1.8% | 11% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 668 | Story WY | 1,054 | $114K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,947 | Franklin VT | 1,425 | $80K | 8.6% | 3.2% | 2% | C |
| 1,948 | Marion MT | 1,037 | $65K | 5.9% | 10.0% | 8% | C |
| 1,949 | Sundance WY | 1,141 | $61K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 32% | C |
| 1,950 | Boone Township IN | 1,378 | $62K | 7.9% | 4.3% | 8% | C |
| 1,951 | Troy Township PA | 1,038 | $71K | 7.3% | 10.1% | 3% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Sundance, the top three, the last and three more from Wyoming.
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 Sundance: questions
What is the median household income in Sundance?
$61,250 (±$30,944) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,176 across Wyoming and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sundance?
4.8%, against 10.5% across Wyoming and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sundance?
13 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Wyoming and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sundance work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rapid City (5%, 61 mi), Gillette (4%, 57 mi), Spearfish (4%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sundance walkable?
Sundance is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sundance without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sundance, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sundance
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.