BLS - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

06/11/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/11/2026 09:12

County Employment and Wages in South Dakota — Fourth Quarter 2025

News Release Information

26-797-CHI
Thursday, June 11, 2026

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  • (312) 353-1138

County Employment and Wages in South Dakota - Fourth Quarter 2025

Employment rose 0.3 percent in South Dakota's only large county, Minnehaha, from December 2024 to December 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that the rate of employment growth in Minnehaha ranked 125th among the 366 largest U.S. counties with published data. (See table 1.)

Employment in Minnehaha stood at 140,300 in December 2025, accounting for 30.6 percent of total employment in South Dakota. Nationwide, the 372 largest counties comprise 73.4 percent of total covered employment in the United States. (Large counties and county equivalents are those with annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2024.)

Large county average weekly wages in the fourth quarter 2025

The average weekly wage in Minnehaha increased 3.7 percent over the year to $1,350. The national average was $1,569, up 4.2 percent over the year. Minnehaha's weekly wage ranked 203rd nationally, and the percent change ranked 232nd among the largest U.S. counties.

Smaller county average weekly wages in the fourth quarter of 2025

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 65 smaller counties in South Dakota, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2024. (See table 2.) Wage levels for 64 of the 65 smaller counties were below the national average. Union reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,603) in the state. Jones reported the lowest average weekly wage ($719).

Among all 66 South Dakota counties, 8 reported average weekly wages of less than $900, 14 had wages from $900 to $999, 18 had wages from $1,000 to $1,099, 17 had wages from $1,100 to $1,199, and 9 had average weekly wages of $1,200 or higher. (See map 1 and table 2.)

Map 1. Average weekly wages by county in South Dakota, fourth quarter 2025

(U.S. average = $1,569)


Additional statistics and other information

QCEW data for states have been included in this release in table 3.

Nationwide coverage of the largest counties is published in the County Employment and Wages news release. Additional information about quarterly employment and wages data is available in the news release Technical Note and from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages website.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

The County Employment and Wages release for the first quarter 2026 is scheduled to be released on Friday, August 28, 2026.

Table 1. Covered establishments, employment, and wages in the United States and the largest county in South Dakota, fourth quarter 2025
Area Establishments,
fourth quarter
(thousands) 		Employment Average weekly wage (1)
December 2025
(thousands) 		Percent change,
December
2024-25 (2) 		National ranking
by percent change (3) 		Fourth quarter
2025 ($) 		National ranking
by level (3) 		Percent change,
fourth quarter
2024-25 (2) 		National ranking
by percent change (3)

United States (4)

12,428.4 156,700.2 0.2 -- 1,569 -- 4.2 --

South Dakota

41.2 458.9 -0.2 -- 1,230 47 4.1 24

Minnehaha

10.2 140.3 0.3 125 1,350 203 3.7 232

Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Percent changes were computed from employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications.
(3) Ranking does not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
(4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Note: Data are preliminary. Dashes indicate data not applicable or available. Covered employment and wages include workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

Table 2. Covered establishments, employment, and wages in the United States and all counties in South Dakota, fourth quarter 2025
Area Establishments Employment December 2025 Average weekly wage ($) (1)

United States (2)

12,428,415 156,700,218 1,569

South Dakota

41,170 458,904 1,230

Aurora

101 799 886

Beadle

690 8,421 1,103

Bennett

96 872 888

Bon Homme

245 1,640 1,058

Brookings

1,426 19,595 1,161

Brown

1,541 19,549 1,168

Brule

256 1,947 874

Buffalo

27 518 1,064

Butte

483 2,928 982

Campbell

76 437 1,071

Charles Mix

377 3,427 1,072

Clark

186 1,204 955

Clay

478 6,127 978

Codington

1,425 17,355 1,114

Corson

63 749 1,079

Custer

444 2,274 1,060

Davison

856 12,311 1,128

Day

281 1,896 965

Deuel

199 1,517 1,117

Dewey

153 2,359 1,125

Douglas

134 1,071 973

Edmunds

189 1,237 1,221

Fall River

360 2,390 1,008

Faulk

130 687 973

Grant

380 3,691 1,125

Gregory

226 1,605 889

Haakon

105 827 1,022

Hamlin

297 2,698 1,230

Hand

167 1,424 1,015

Hanson

112 624 1,035

Harding

69 454 1,024

Hughes

942 10,639 1,277

Hutchinson

298 2,787 1,071

Hyde

77 535 1,196

Jackson

82 634 862

Jerauld

106 1,566 939

Jones

57 395 719

Kingsbury

268 1,737 1,048

Lake

503 5,157 1,204

Lawrence

1,706 13,614 1,017

Lincoln

2,739 30,322 1,448

Lyman

143 1,368 819

McCook

242 1,377 1,136

McPherson

97 559 925

Marshall

210 1,654 1,143

Meade

1,107 8,893 1,181

Mellette

41 355 805

Miner

107 767 965

Minnehaha

10,176 140,271 1,350

Moody

216 2,483 1,160

Oglala Lakota

134 3,800 1,103

Pennington

5,910 62,077 1,204

Perkins

142 1,036 912

Potter

146 800 1,037

Roberts

305 3,408 959

Sanborn

89 617 952

Spink

263 2,441 1,121

Stanley

158 1,329 1,055

Sully

100 746 1,266

Todd

108 2,862 1,100

Tripp

268 2,329 1,029

Turner

366 2,433 1,029

Union

905 9,683 1,603

Walworth

271 2,106 996

Yankton

876 12,684 1,173

Ziebach

31 253 948

Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Note: Data are preliminary. Dashes indicate data not applicable or available. Covered employment and wages include workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

Table 3. Covered establishments, employment, and wages by state, fourth quarter 2025
State Establishments,
fourth quarter
(thousands) 		Employment Average weekly wage (1)
December 2025
(thousands) 		Percent change,
December
2024-25 		Fourth quarter
2025 ($) 		National ranking
by level 		Percent change,
fourth quarter
2024-25 		National ranking
by percent change

United States (2)

12,428.4 156,700.2 0.2 1,569 -- 4.2 --

Alabama

167.4 2,135.3 0.5 1,301 36 3.7 37

Alaska

25.3 317.3 -0.3 1,497 16 4.7 14

Arizona

227.4 3,278.3 0.0 1,446 20 3.0 47

Arkansas

113.0 1,318.2 0.4 1,213 49 5.0 8

California

2,013.7 18,351.7 0.6 1,954 4 4.6 16

Colorado

258.5 2,896.4 -0.6 1,683 8 5.6 3

Connecticut

149.8 1,706.5 0.1 1,801 6 5.0 8

Delaware

47.3 481.0 0.1 1,502 15 4.7 14

District of Columbia

51.0 726.1 -4.5 2,587 1 4.1 24

Florida

886.2 10,013.2 0.3 1,471 17 4.8 12

Georgia

398.7 4,925.4 0.1 1,440 21 3.5 40

Hawaii

63.0 650.0 -0.2 1,411 25 5.0 8

Idaho

104.3 875.7 1.8 1,303 35 5.8 2

Illinois

387.7 6,089.5 -0.1 1,588 11 3.3 42

Indiana

195.6 3,211.2 0.1 1,276 40 4.5 17

Iowa

110.6 1,560.0 -0.2 1,282 39 3.7 37

Kansas

101.8 1,443.2 -0.1 1,268 44 4.1 24

Kentucky

161.3 2,008.7 -0.1 1,235 46 3.8 34

Louisiana

159.2 1,927.3 -0.5 1,267 45 3.2 44

Maine

67.6 644.7 -0.1 1,332 33 4.2 21

Maryland

199.5 2,754.6 -1.1 1,616 10 3.0 47

Massachusetts

298.5 3,625.5 -0.9 1,980 2 4.9 11

Michigan

316.9 4,412.7 0.0 1,427 23 4.2 21

Minnesota

215.2 2,948.0 0.0 1,505 14 3.7 37

Mississippi

92.2 1,180.9 0.3 1,075 51 5.1 7

Missouri

259.9 2,920.8 -0.1 1,324 34 4.4 18

Montana

62.3 512.3 -0.1 1,296 38 3.3 42

Nebraska

78.5 1,024.0 -0.2 1,275 42 4.0 31

Nevada

111.0 1,592.1 1.7 1,395 27 3.2 44

New Hampshire

67.9 688.8 -0.6 1,652 9 4.8 12

New Jersey

343.1 4,343.1 0.2 1,691 7 3.9 33

New Mexico

69.7 875.3 -0.3 1,275 42 4.1 24

New York

719.1 9,907.5 0.4 1,975 3 5.4 4

North Carolina

392.1 4,991.1 0.9 1,409 26 3.8 34

North Dakota

37.0 430.4 -0.2 1,350 31 2.7 49

Ohio

348.5 5,554.4 0.0 1,358 30 4.1 24

Oklahoma

129.3 1,717.1 0.1 1,217 48 4.1 24

Oregon

177.9 1,975.8 -1.0 1,468 19 3.2 44

Pennsylvania

398.1 6,094.8 0.2 1,470 18 4.0 31

Rhode Island

49.1 500.3 -0.1 1,429 22 6.0 1

South Carolina

192.4 2,344.7 1.5 1,276 40 4.3 20

South Dakota

41.2 458.9 -0.2 1,230 47 4.1 24

Tennessee

225.2 3,281.6 -0.3 1,424 24 3.8 34

Texas

860.8 14,255.2 0.8 1,549 13 4.2 21

Utah

144.6 1,761.6 1.4 1,389 28 4.1 24

Vermont

34.5 309.3 -0.9 1,378 29 5.3 5

Virginia

324.0 4,166.9 0.5 1,585 12 2.6 50

Washington

242.1 3,590.3 -0.3 1,948 5 2.4 51

West Virginia

62.8 698.3 -0.6 1,203 50 3.5 40

Wisconsin

213.9 2,946.2 -0.1 1,346 32 5.3 5

Wyoming

31.7 278.4 -0.8 1,297 37 4.4 18

Puerto Rico

53.5 974.7 -0.2 735 (3) 2.8 (3)

Virgin Islands

3.0 34.7 0.3 1,068 (3) 2.7 (3)

Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
(3) Data not included in the national ranking.

Note: Data are preliminary. Dashes indicate data not applicable or available. Covered employment and wages include workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

BLS - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published this content on June 11, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 11, 2026 at 15:12 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]