Work & commute · Salem

Work & commute in Salem, SD

Most working residents leave Salem for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Sioux Falls (34%), Salem (22%) and Mitchell (7%). Half commute less than 32 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1 of 139 working residents

Typical commute

32 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 138 Salem residents head out of town to work, 1 work right here, and 79 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Salem.

138live here, work elsewhere

1live and work here

79work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Salem goes to work

Sioux Falls37.1 mi away

34%47

Salem2.3 mi away

22%30

Mitchell30.3 mi away

7%10

Montrose12.5 mi away

5%7

Madison25.9 mi away

4%5

Emery12.1 mi away

1%2

Huron59.1 mi away

1%2

Greenland14.2 mi away

1%2

Lyons28.4 mi away

1%2

Pipestone, MN59.3 mi away

1%1

Everywhere elseother towns and states

22%31

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

How far

How far Salem commutes

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

27%

14%

51%

27%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

51%25–50 mi

8%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Salem is a commuter town

0.58jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Salem are

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

Jobs based in Salem

80 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)39%

Trade, transport & utilities55%

Services (health, schools, offices…)6%

$1,250 a month or less6%

$1,251–$3,333 a month11%

Over $3,333 a month83%

Jobs Salem residents hold

139 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month66%

+54%

Jobs based in Salem, 2013 → 2023: 52 → 80. 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.