Work & commute · Willow Lake

Work & commute in Willow Lake, SD

Most working residents leave Willow Lake for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Clark (17%), Watertown (16%) and Sioux Falls (10%). Half commute less than 31 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

6 of 104 working residents

Typical commute

31 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

16%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 98 Willow Lake residents head out of town to work, 6 work right here, and 101 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Willow Lake.

98live here, work elsewhere

6live and work here

101work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Willow Lake goes to work

Clark18.1 mi away

17%18

Watertown30.6 mi away

16%17

Sioux Falls87.5 mi away

10%10

Willow Lake (in town)right here

6%6

Lake Norden21.3 mi away

6%6

Day14.7 mi away

5%5

Lincoln16.9 mi away

4%4

Britton80.7 mi away

2%2

Opdahl16.2 mi away

2%2

Garfield11.2 mi away

2%2

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%32

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

How far

How far Willow Lake commutes

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

11%

38%

23%

28%

11%Under 10 mi

38%10–24 mi

23%25–50 mi

28%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Willow Lake is balanced between jobs and homes

1.03jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.03 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Willow Lake are

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

Jobs based in Willow Lake

107 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)85%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Willow Lake residents hold

104 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month51%

+26%

Jobs based in Willow Lake, 2013 → 2023: 85 → 107. 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.