Work & commute · Lake

Work & commute in Lake, SD

Most working residents leave Lake for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Watertown (61%), Sioux Falls (9%) and Brookings (2%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2 of 303 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 301 Lake residents head out of town to work, 2 work right here, and 102 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lake.

301live here, work elsewhere

2live and work here

102work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lake goes to work

Watertown3.3 mi away

61%185

Sioux Falls100.1 mi away

9%27

Brookings48.7 mi away

2%7

Sheridan9.3 mi away

2%5

Bryant29.6 mi away

1%4

Huron66 mi away

1%4

Mitchell95.5 mi away

1%4

Clear Lake26.8 mi away

1%3

Madison65.7 mi away

1%3

Rauville5.1 mi away

1%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

19%58

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

How far

How far Lake commutes

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

68%

20%

68%Under 10 mi

4%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

20%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lake is a commuter town

0.34jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Lake are

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

Jobs based in Lake

104 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)54%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)23%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Lake residents hold

303 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month61%

−41%

Jobs based in Lake, 2013 → 2023: 177 → 104. 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.