• Home to LMIC
• Virtual Labor Market Data System
  • Instructions for Using the Virtual System
  • Job Openings Data
• Career Exploration & Planning
  • Career Publications
  • Explore Occupations by Career Cluster
  • Explore Occupations by Interest Area
  • Hot Careers
  • Take the South Dakota Career Interest Survey
• Consumer Price Index
• Demographics
  • Area Profiles
  • Population
• Economic Snapshot
• Employee Benefits
• Employment Projections
  • By Industry
  • By Occupation
  • Hot Careers (High Demand-High Wage)
• Labor Force & Unemployment
• Labor Supply
• Overview of the Current Labor Market
• Surveys We Conduct
• Wages & Income
  • Wages by Occupation
  • Wages by Industry
  • Income
  • Minimum Wage Information
  • Prevailing Wages
• Workers by Industry
  • Nonfarm worker levels
  • Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages
• Tools & Resources
  • Postsecondary Graduate Outcomes System
  • South Dakota Career Interest Survey
  • Tapping Into the Power of LMI (recorded webinar)
  • Instructions for Using the Virtual Labor Market Data System
  • Virtual Labor Market Data System
• Publications
  • Annual Labor Market/Workforce Reports
  • Career Publications
  • South Dakota e-Labor Bulletin (current issue)
  • South Dakota e-Labor Bulletin Articles (past)
  • Other LMIC Publications
  • Order Publications
• References
  • Definitions
  • Program Overviews
  • FAQ
  • Related Sites
  • Release Dates
  • Survey Legitimacy
• What's New
• Can't Find It?

South Dakota e-Labor Bulletin

June 2025

Now serving: a charcuterie of employment and wage trends

Check out the new 2024 Annual Report from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. It’s like a charcuterie board of South Dakota workforce data morsels. It provides lots of 'meaty' data on South Dakota's industries.

The QCEW data set is the only source of detailed, state-specific industry data included in the report:

• Number of establishments, employment, and pay by industry
• 22 narrative industry analyses
• Number of establishments, employment, and pay by employer size class
• Employment and pay by county
• Employment, pay, and establishment size data by industry and size class for the state’s metro areas

If the following examples of 2024 highlights (compared to 2023 data) whet your appetite, click the fork to see the relevant section in the Annual Report.

	South Dakota employment grew 1.3% to 458,549. Eight supersectors grew, with just three reporting losses.
	The state’s annual pay averaged $58,307, a respectable 4.0% increase.
	Professional and Business Services accounted for the largest number of establishments in South Dakota at 9,168.
	Retail Trade worker levels trended up for the fourth consecutive year.
	General automotive and maintenance repair establishments showed solid worker growth and were the major contributor of increases in the Repair and Maintenance sector of the Other Services industry supersector.
	Small establishments (less than 10 employees) were again a big deal in South Dakota’s economy, accounting for 80.4% of all establishments.
	42 of South Dakota’s 66 counties (64%) showed worker growth. Day, Hamlin, and Faulk counties led in percentage terms. Minnehaha, Lincoln, and Pennington counties experienced the most absolute growth.
	Ziebach County enjoyed the highest percentage increase in annual pay at 26.6%, while Campbell County had the least change (0.3%).
	The Sioux Falls metro area accounted for nearly a third of all Construction establishments in the state, and just over 40% of Construction employment.
	The Rapid City metro area had two establishments in the largest size category (500+). They were in the Professional and Business Services and the Education and Health Services supersectors.

What appetizing snacks can you find on the QCEW charcuterie board served as the 2024 Annual Report? Let your eyes and fingers lead you to fulfilling servings!