Work & commute · Box Elder

Work & commute in Box Elder, SD

Most working residents leave Box Elder for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Rapid City (62%), Sioux Falls (4%) and Wall (2%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

313 of 4,709 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 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 4,396 Box Elder residents head out of town to work, 313 work right here, and 1,700 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Box Elder.

4,396live here, work elsewhere

313live and work here

1,700work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Box Elder goes to work

Rapid City7.3 mi away

62%2,898

Box Elder (in town)right here

7%313

Sioux Falls318.9 mi away

4%173

Wall42.3 mi away

2%92

Faith81.4 mi away

1%65

Spearfish44.8 mi away

1%54

Rapid Valley3.6 mi away

1%45

Pierre137.9 mi away

1%42

New Underwood12.1 mi away

1%41

Sturgis29.2 mi away

1%38

Everywhere elseother towns and states

20%948

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

How far

How far Box Elder commutes

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

63%

13%

16%

63%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Box Elder is a commuter town

0.43jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Box Elder are

2,013 jobs are based in Box Elder. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Box Elder’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Box Elder

2,013 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month56%

Jobs Box Elder residents hold

4,709 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month52%

+96%

Jobs based in Box Elder, 2013 → 2023: 1,026 → 2,013. 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.