Work & commute · Belle Fourche

Work & commute in Belle Fourche, SD

About one in 3 of Belle Fourche’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Spearfish (20%), Rapid City (10%) and Deadwood (3%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

29%

797 of 2,724 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 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 1,927 Belle Fourche residents head out of town to work, 797 work right here, and 1,111 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Belle Fourche.

1,927live here, work elsewhere

797live and work here

1,111work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Belle Fourche goes to work

Belle Fourche (in town)right here

29%797

Spearfish12.1 mi away

20%538

Rapid City51.8 mi away

10%279

Deadwood20.3 mi away

3%94

Sturgis24.9 mi away

3%86

Hulett, WY36.3 mi away

2%47

Sioux Falls361.9 mi away

2%45

North Spearfish10.8 mi away

2%43

Pierre175.5 mi away

1%35

Newell22 mi away

1%27

Everywhere elseother towns and states

27%733

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

How far

How far Belle Fourche commutes

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

37%

33%

22%

37%Under 10 mi

33%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Belle Fourche is a commuter town

0.70jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.70 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Belle Fourche are

1,908 jobs are based in Belle Fourche. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Belle Fourche’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Belle Fourche

1,908 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month47%

Jobs Belle Fourche residents hold

2,724 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month48%

+2%

Jobs based in Belle Fourche, 2013 → 2023: 1,879 → 1,908. 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.