Work & commute · Big Stone

Work & commute in Big Stone, SD

Most working residents leave Big Stone for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Milbank (42%), Sioux Falls (7%) and Ortonville (5%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12 of 168 working residents

Typical commute

8 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 156 Big Stone residents head out of town to work, 12 work right here, and 186 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Big Stone.

156live here, work elsewhere

12live and work here

186work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Big Stone goes to work

Milbank7 mi away

42%70

Sioux Falls120.8 mi away

7%12

Big Stone (in town)right here

7%12

Ortonville, MN4 mi away

5%9

Big Stone City2.9 mi away

5%8

Alban5.7 mi away

5%8

Watertown40.3 mi away

3%5

Vermillion173.9 mi away

2%3

Grant Center10.8 mi away

2%3

Wilmot18.5 mi away

1%2

Everywhere elseother towns and states

21%36

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

How far

How far Big Stone commutes

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

63%

22%

63%Under 10 mi

8%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Big Stone is balanced between jobs and homes

1.18jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.18 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Big Stone are

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

Jobs based in Big Stone

198 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)97%

Trade, transport & utilities1%

Services (health, schools, offices…)2%

$1,250 a month or less6%

$1,251–$3,333 a month13%

Over $3,333 a month81%

Jobs Big Stone residents hold

168 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)36%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)43%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month61%

−27%

Jobs based in Big Stone, 2013 → 2023: 270 → 198. 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.