Work & commute · Spearfish

Work & commute in Spearfish, SD

46% of Spearfish’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Rapid City (12%), Deadwood (7%) and Sioux Falls (4%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

46%

2,558 of 5,621 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

16 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 3,063 Spearfish residents head out of town to work, 2,558 work right here, and 4,154 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Spearfish.

3,063live here, work elsewhere

2,558live and work here

4,154work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Spearfish goes to work

Spearfish (in town)right here

46%2,558

Rapid City41.5 mi away

12%647

Deadwood8.6 mi away

7%399

Sioux Falls357.9 mi away

4%212

Sturgis16.6 mi away

3%191

North Spearfish4.6 mi away

3%164

Belle Fourche12.1 mi away

3%155

Lead9.9 mi away

2%107

Sundance, WY27.8 mi away

1%55

Whitewood9 mi away

1%40

Everywhere elseother towns and states

19%1,093

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

How far

How far Spearfish commutes

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

57%

17%

15%

11%

57%Under 10 mi

17%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

11%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Spearfish is balanced between jobs and homes

1.19jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.19 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Spearfish are

6,712 jobs are based in Spearfish. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Spearfish’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Spearfish

6,712 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Spearfish residents hold

5,621 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month55%

+11%

Jobs based in Spearfish, 2013 → 2023: 6,020 → 6,712. 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.