Healthcare Is Powering South Dakota’s Job Boom
If you're looking for work, South Dakota continues to be the place for you. The unemployment rate in the state is around 2%. There are lots of jobs in our state.
From Agriculture to Healthcare Careers
A hundred years ago, most people in South Dakota worked either directly in agriculture, like on a farm or ranch, or in industries that supported agriculture, like retail or transportation.
Today, the number of people who work in agriculture has dropped. People in South Dakota today work in retail, logistics, manufacturing, and most of all, in healthcare.
Healthcare is the future of the South Dakota job market. Sioux Falls is already the home base of two huge health systems, Sanford and Avera. Then we all have the businesses that support healthcare. Just over 61,000 South Dakotans work in healthcare. That's 16% of all private employees. That's up nearly 20% since 2014.
Healthcare Jobs Expected to Grow the Fastest
The South Dakota Department of Labor predicts that the healthcare industry will add nearly 8,000 more jobs in South Dakota over the next decade.
What are those jobs going to be? They will be what you probably think of when you hear healthcare jobs: nurses, techs, etc. It's not just doctors. It's all the people that make healthcare happen.
According to the South Dakota Department of Labor, these are the healthcare jobs that will be most in demand in South Dakota between now and 2032: