Work & commute · Brookings

Work & commute in Brookings, SD

63% of Brookings’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Sioux Falls (13%), Watertown (2%) and Madison (1%). Half commute less than 2 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

63%

6,364 of 10,120 working residents

Typical commute

2 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

13 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,756 Brookings residents head out of town to work, 6,364 work right here, and 8,819 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Brookings.

3,756live here, work elsewhere

6,364live and work here

8,819work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Brookings goes to work

Brookings (in town)right here

63%6,364

Sioux Falls52.8 mi away

13%1,324

Watertown45.6 mi away

2%191

Madison26 mi away

1%118

Elkton15.9 mi away

1%99

Aberdeen114.9 mi away

1%94

Rapid City318.9 mi away

1%92

Volga6.8 mi away

1%86

Mitchell73.9 mi away

1%85

Huron70.4 mi away

1%56

Everywhere elseother towns and states

16%1,611

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

How far

How far Brookings commutes

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

66%

23%

66%Under 10 mi

4%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Brookings is a job hub

1.50jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Brookings are

15,183 jobs are based in Brookings. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Brookings’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Brookings

15,183 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs Brookings residents hold

10,120 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+11%

Jobs based in Brookings, 2013 → 2023: 13,718 → 15,183. 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.