Watertown

Population & Demographics

Watertown, SD

Watertown is home to 23,044 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 12,724 resident workers commute each day.

South DakotaCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2023
23,044
people
Population

23,044 residents

Median age 39.5 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Watertown population & demographics

Who lives in Watertown — population, age, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Population
23,044
Median age
39.5yrs
Median household income
$69,600
Median home value
$229,400
Median gross rent
$942/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
21.6%
Poverty rate
9.0%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.

Race & ethnicity in Watertown

How Watertown breaks down by race and ethnicity — each bar is that group’s share of the population, from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2024).

White89.9%
Hispanic or Latino2.9%
Two or more races2.9%
American Indian / Alaska Native2.3%
Black0.8%
Asian0.7%
Some other race0.5%

Race across Watertown

Each dot is a group of people, placed in their 2020 Census block and colored by race or ethnicity — the pattern shows where groups live across Watertown.

Watertown at a glance
Employed Residents
12,724
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
36.9mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
66.2%
Share working within the area
Work from home
4.8%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Sioux Falls
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Watertown proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.

How Watertown commutes

Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.

95
Commute Score

95 / 100

How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.

Watertown

12,724 commutes, one dot at a time

Watertown

Where 12,724 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

Top destinations for people who live in Watertown, by worker count.

1Watertown0.0 mi8,425
2Sioux Falls96.6 mi1,168
3Brookings44.5 mi285
4Mitchell93.8 mi138
5Huron66.1 mi126
6Rapid City307.4 mi90
7Aberdeen77.1 mi86
8Madison61.9 mi63

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Watertown.

1Watertown0.0 mi8,425
2Sioux Falls96.6 mi402
3Aberdeen77.1 mi231
4Brookings44.5 mi214
5Huron66.1 mi154
6Clear Lake23.5 mi103
7Florence14.6 mi98
8Madison61.9 mi84

Top industries

The sectors that employ Watertown’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.

Bar length = each sector’s share of all local jobs (0–100%)
MFManufacturing22.7%
RTRetail Trade16.6%
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance12.1%
AFAccommodation and Food Services10.8%
EDEducational Services6.2%
WSWholesale Trade5.5%
COConstruction4.6%
PAPublic Administration4.1%
FIFinance and Insurance3.8%
Connectivity

Internet options for Watertown

The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.

6 providers
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps~all homes
2 Gbps74%
5 Gbps74%
8 Gbps
See all internet providers in Watertown

FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).