Work & commute · Pelican

Work & commute in Pelican, SD

Most working residents leave Pelican for work: only 0% work in town. The top destinations are Watertown (66%), Sioux Falls (9%) and Huron (2%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1 of 390 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

13 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 389 Pelican residents head out of town to work, 1 work right here, and 122 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Pelican.

389live here, work elsewhere

1live and work here

122work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Pelican goes to work

Watertown5.2 mi away

66%258

Sioux Falls92.6 mi away

9%34

Huron59.8 mi away

2%9

Brookings42.2 mi away

2%8

Sheridan6.7 mi away

2%8

Mitchell87.5 mi away

1%4

Marshall, MN74.2 mi away

1%3

Florence16.2 mi away

1%3

Lake Norden18 mi away

1%3

Rapid City301.7 mi away

1%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

15%57

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

How far

How far Pelican commutes

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

69%

22%

69%Under 10 mi

3%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Pelican is a commuter town

0.32jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Pelican are

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

Jobs based in Pelican

123 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)42%

Trade, transport & utilities29%

Services (health, schools, offices…)28%

$1,250 a month or less6%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month74%

Jobs Pelican residents hold

390 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month55%

+19%

Jobs based in Pelican, 2013 → 2023: 103 → 123. 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.