How many people are employed in South Dakota?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, South Dakota has 297,192 employees across 25,775 business establishments in 532 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in South Dakota?

The largest industries in South Dakota by employment are Limited-Service Restaurants (12,769), Full-Service Restaurants (12,327), and Commercial Banking (10,126).

What is the average payroll in South Dakota?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in South Dakota. The highest-paying tracked industry is Securities Brokerage at $199,478/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in South Dakota?

South Dakota has 25,775 business establishments across 532 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · SD · Census CBP 2023

South Dakota Industry Benchmarks

Name: South Dakota Industry Employment and Payroll Benchmarks
Creator: PlainBizBench
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 532 industries in South Dakota. Drill into any industry for a South Dakota-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

297K
Workers: 26K
Establishments: 532
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · South Dakota

South Dakota employs 297,192 workers across 532 tracked industries, led by Limited-Service Restaurants (12,769 workers).

Retail Trade anchors South Dakota; top-three cumulative share is 49%. Margins stay on national industry pages.

South Dakota sector employment mix

Share of private-sector employment by NAICS-2 sector (Census CBP 2023). Tile area = workers.

South Dakota private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Retail Trade is the clear anchor in South Dakota (18% of 297,192 private-sector workers (about the 6th percentile of states by employment)), but sibling sectors still take meaningful shares. Read the treemap as an anchor-plus-breadth economy rather than a one-sector state.

#1 · NAICS 44

Retail Trade

54,784 · 18%

#2 · NAICS 31

Manufacturing

47,333 · 16%

#3 · NAICS 72

Accommodation and Food Services

42,968 · 14%

Anchor economy · Herfindahl 0.110 (open) · top-three 49% of South Dakota private payroll.

Profit margins are national (IRS SOI); open any industry row below, then the matching national industry page for profitability.

Census CBP firm roll

County Business Patterns SD ANCHORED · CBP

#48/51 · 297,192 workers · 25,775 firms

EMP 297,192
EST 25,775
RANK #48/51
PCT 6th pct
LEAD Retail Trade
SHARE 18% lead
BAND anchored
DENS 11.5 /firm
BOOK 532 NAICS
PHOTO North Dakota

Nearest employment-scale peer: North Dakota (327,925 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, South Dakota ranks #48 of 51 states and territories by total private-sector employment (level-2 sector totals, the same non-double-counted aggregate shown above). Margins stay on national industry pages (IRS SOI). Read with this state → · Lead 6-digit industry →

Census CBP level-2 private employment among this state and nearest nationwide peers

Top Industries by Employment

Industry	Employment	Establishments	Annual Payroll	Avg Payroll/Emp
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	12,769	623	$248.7M	$19,476/yr
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	12,327	675	$291.8M	$23,674/yr
Commercial Banking NAICS 522110	10,126	453	$816.1M	$80,592/yr
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	6,710	441	$179.3M	$26,729/yr
Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores NAICS 447110	5,521	489	$148.4M	$26,872/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	5,372	902	$125.8M	$23,414/yr
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors NAICS 238220	4,356	401	$269.9M	$61,955/yr
Child Day Care Services NAICS 624410	4,004	280	$89.0M	$22,216/yr
New Car Dealers NAICS 441110	3,983	113	$271.8M	$68,237/yr
Elementary and Secondary Schools NAICS 611110	3,977	76	$149.8M	$37,678/yr
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) NAICS 722410	3,292	350	$65.6M	$19,916/yr
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages NAICS 524210	3,229	745	$233.1M	$72,199/yr
Offices of Dentists NAICS 621210	3,122	317	$215.8M	$69,112/yr
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers NAICS 424910	2,951	296	N/A	N/A
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors NAICS 238210	2,931	341	$190.0M	$64,825/yr
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars NAICS 722515	2,771	265	$42.6M	$15,389/yr
Commercial and Institutional Building Construction NAICS 236220	2,768	201	$205.1M	$74,096/yr
Janitorial Services NAICS 561720	2,556	270	$53.6M	$20,983/yr
Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly NAICS 623312	2,469	75	$76.8M	$31,122/yr
General Freight Trucking, Long-Distance, Truckload NAICS 484121	2,334	318	$116.7M	$50,009/yr

Scale peers for South Dakota's anchor economy

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (297,192 in South Dakota), excluding SD.

North Dakota 327,925 Alaska 263,002 Vermont 248,351 Wyoming 203,847 Rhode Island 394,740 Montana 401,056 Delaware 435,085 Hawaii 437,405

Disclaimer: South Dakota (SD) figures on this page are Census CBP employment and payroll counts for informational registry use only, not financial, tax, or business advice. Consult a qualified accountant for decisions about South Dakota businesses.

Source: Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 · SD

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets for South Dakota (SD). See our methodology.

Verify with U.S. Census Bureau → · Verify with IRS SOI →