Work & commute · Gary

Work & commute in Gary, SD

Most working residents leave Gary for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Watertown (20%), Brookings (16%) and Clear Lake (14%). Half commute less than 34 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2 of 93 working residents

Typical commute

34 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 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 91 Gary residents head out of town to work, 2 work right here, and 108 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Gary.

91live here, work elsewhere

2live and work here

108work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Gary goes to work

Watertown35.1 mi away

20%19

Brookings37.6 mi away

16%15

Clear Lake11.7 mi away

14%13

Sioux Falls87.7 mi away

14%13

Marshall, MN40.6 mi away

2%2

Gary (in town)right here

2%2

Hidewood19.8 mi away

2%2

Sheridan29.7 mi away

2%2

Grange23 mi away

2%2

Glenwood4.7 mi away

2%2

Everywhere elseother towns and states

23%21

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

How far

How far Gary commutes

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

27%

46%

23%

4%Under 10 mi

27%10–24 mi

46%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Gary 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 Gary are

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

Jobs based in Gary

110 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities67%

Services (health, schools, offices…)29%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Gary residents hold

93 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)35%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)38%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month57%

−18%

Jobs based in Gary, 2013 → 2023: 134 → 110. 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.