Rushmore Region Workforce at a Glance

The Rushmore Region offers a robust, diverse workforce across Butte, Custer, Fall River, Lawrence, Meade, and Pennington counties, anchored by Rapid City and surrounding Black Hills communities. This page highlights the region’s available labor, skills, and training partnerships, presenting data on labor participation, industry mix, and talent pipelines. You’ll find high-level insights into where workers come from, which sectors are growing, and how schools, colleges, and employers are aligning to meet the needs of the region. For site selectors and investors, this information translates into faster hiring, stronger workforce alignment with your business plan, and clearer paths to scalable growth in the region.

Rushmore Region

77,109
Workforce
2.00%
Unemployment Rate
19,011
Veteran Population
49,356
Bachelor's Degree or Higher

Business and Workforce

There are 10,231 businesses in Rushmore Region, employing 109,440 workers and pulling from a labor force of 97,884 age 16 and above. 18,503 workers commute into Rushmore Region from outside the county or state. Key industries for the area include:

77,109 residents both live and work in/around Rushmore Region. The average travel time is 0.0 minutes. 6.42% people have a commute of less than 5 minutes while 2.22% commute 90 minutes or more each way. Of commuters, 75,781 drive alone, 8,424 carpool, and 452 take public transportation. 4,545 use other modes of transport such as motorcycle, bicycle, walking, etc. 8,682 residents work from home.

38,395 members of the workforce hold a high school diploma or GED. 18,040 have associates degrees, 32,844 have bachelor’s degrees, and 16,512 hold a graduate or professional degree.

Source: ESRI, 2026-03-24