Work & commute · Rapid Valley

Work & commute in Rapid Valley, SD

Most working residents leave Rapid Valley for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Rapid City (76%), Box Elder (3%) and Sioux Falls (3%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

48 of 4,313 working residents

Typical commute

5 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 4,265 Rapid Valley residents head out of town to work, 48 work right here, and 439 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Rapid Valley.

4,265live here, work elsewhere

48live and work here

439work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Rapid Valley goes to work

Rapid City4.8 mi away

76%3,265

Box Elder3.6 mi away

3%128

Sioux Falls320.6 mi away

3%127

Spearfish45.1 mi away

1%53

Rapid Valley (in town)right here

1%48

Sturgis30.2 mi away

1%24

Pierre140.4 mi away

0%19

Wall43.9 mi away

0%18

Summerset13.9 mi away

0%18

Deadwood37 mi away

0%14

Everywhere elseother towns and states

14%599

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

How far

How far Rapid Valley commutes

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

83%

83%Under 10 mi

3%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Rapid Valley is a commuter town

0.11jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Rapid Valley are

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

Jobs based in Rapid Valley

487 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities28%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Rapid Valley residents hold

4,313 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month59%

+78%

Jobs based in Rapid Valley, 2013 → 2023: 273 → 487. 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.