Work & commute · Lead

Work & commute in Lead, SD

Most working residents leave Lead for work: only 18% work in town. The top destinations are Deadwood (38%), Rapid City (8%) and Spearfish (7%). Half commute less than 3 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

18%

262 of 1,457 working residents

Typical commute

3 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 1,195 Lead residents head out of town to work, 262 work right here, and 644 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lead.

1,195live here, work elsewhere

262live and work here

644work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lead goes to work

Deadwood3.3 mi away

38%558

Lead (in town)right here

18%262

Rapid City33.4 mi away

8%112

Spearfish9.9 mi away

7%99

Sioux Falls354.3 mi away

4%53

Sturgis13.8 mi away

3%41

Belle Fourche22 mi away

1%17

Hill City30.7 mi away

1%13

Newcastle, WY40.7 mi away

0%7

Pierre170.3 mi away

0%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

20%289

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

How far

How far Lead commutes

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

68%

12%

11%

10%

68%Under 10 mi

12%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lead is a commuter town

0.62jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Lead are

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

Jobs based in Lead

906 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month69%

Jobs Lead residents hold

1,457 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month47%

+39%

Jobs based in Lead, 2013 → 2023: 650 → 906. 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.