Hot Springs is a very small city located in the state of South Dakota. With a population of 3,590 people and just one neighborhood, Hot Springs is the 33rd largest community in South Dakota. Hot Springs has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.
Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Hot Springs is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Hot Springs is a city of service providers, professionals, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Hot Springs who work in food service (16.97%), management occupations (14.97%), and maintenance occupations (8.12%).
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 8.59% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
It is a fairly quiet city because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Hot Springs has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Hot Springs has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Hot Springs than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Hot Springs may be for you.
Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 15.65 minutes getting to work every day.
As is often the case in a small city, Hot Springs doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The education level of Hot Springs citizens, measured as those with bachelor's degrees or advanced degrees, is similar to the national average for all American cities and towns. 17.50% of adults 25 and older in Hot Springs have a college degree.
The per capita income in Hot Springs in 2022 was $33,368, which is middle income relative to South Dakota and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $133,472 for a family of four. However, Hot Springs contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Hot Springs is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Hot Springs home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Hot Springs residents report their race to be White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Hot Springs include German, Irish, English, Norwegian, and Dutch.
The most common language spoken in Hot Springs is English. Other important languages spoken here include Native American languages and Polish.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Regardless of the means by which residents commute, this neighborhood has a length of commute that is notable. Residents of the neighborhood have the pleasure of having one of the shortest commutes to work of any neighborhood in America. 74.7% of the residents have a commute time from home to work (one way) of less than fifteen minutes. This is a higher proportion of residents enjoying a short trip to work than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.1% of U.S. neighborhoods. Less time commuting means more time for other things in life.
Astoundingly, the neighborhood has one of the highest concentrations of divorcees living here than of any neighborhood, a higher concentration than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.5% of U.S. neighborhoods. This may be because people living here divorce more often than others, or that divorced people move here after they become divorced. If you are divorced, you will be in good company in this particular Hot Springs neighborhood.
In addition, if you're planning where to retire, the neighborhood in Hot Springs is a great option to consider. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive retirement dream area analysis, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety ratings compared to other neighborhoods in SD, offers a wide range of housing options, and has already attracted an enviable mix of college educated seniors. This neighborhood ranks as better for retirement living than 85.5% of the neighborhoods in South Dakota. If you are considering retiring to South Dakota, this is a good neighborhood to look at.
Would you like to be able to ride your bike to work? If you are attracted to the idea of getting a little exercise of the two-wheeled type while reducing your carbon footprint, bicycling to work might be the answer. But which neighborhood you live in can make this either impossible, or alternatively, a great and realistic option. NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that the neighborhood is a fantastic option for bicycle commuters, as 2.9% of commuters here do ride their bikes to and from work on a daily basis. This is a higher amount than we found in 95.6% of the neighborhoods in America.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Native American and Norwegian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 9.7% of this neighborhood's residents have Native American ancestry and 5.9% have Norwegian ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 3.0% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Native American languages at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.4% of the neighborhoods in America.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Hot Springs are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 76.1% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 36.3% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 86.6% of U.S. neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 36.9% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 35.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (16.9%), and 10.6% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 97.0% of households. Some people also speak Native American languages (3.0%).
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Hot Springs, SD, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (28.3%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (14.5%), and residents who report Irish roots (14.2%), and some of the residents are also of Native American ancestry (9.7%), along with some Norwegian ancestry residents (5.9%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (74.7% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (83.8%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.