Work & commute · Alpena

Work & commute in Alpena, SD

Most working residents leave Alpena for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Wessington Springs (39%), Huron (7%) and Mitchell (5%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

13 of 82 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

14 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 69 Alpena residents head out of town to work, 13 work right here, and 690 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Alpena.

69live here, work elsewhere

13live and work here

690work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Alpena goes to work

Wessington Springs12.3 mi away

39%32

Alpena (in town)right here

16%13

Huron14.6 mi away

7%6

Mitchell35.4 mi away

5%4

Sioux Falls92.8 mi away

5%4

Watertown78 mi away

4%3

Woonsocket10.1 mi away

2%2

De Smet42.8 mi away

2%2

Aberdeen88.7 mi away

2%2

Fresno, CA1231.9 mi away

1%1

Everywhere elseother towns and states

16%13

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Alpena commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

19%

48%

11%

22%

19%Under 10 mi

48%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Alpena is a job hub

8.57jobs per working resident

A job hub

8.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Alpena are

703 jobs are based in Alpena. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alpena’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Alpena

703 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)92%

Trade, transport & utilities2%

Services (health, schools, offices…)5%

$1,250 a month or less5%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month71%

Jobs Alpena residents hold

82 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month38%

−24%

Jobs based in Alpena, 2013 → 2023: 930 → 703. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.