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Rapid City Metro Area Profile - Local Employment Dynamics (LED)

About the Rapid City Metro Area

In order to qualify as a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), an area must have at least one urbanized area with a population of 50,000 or more, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured by commuting ties. The Rapid City MSA consists of Pennington and Meade counties.

Employment

The following tables compare the area's total employment, new hires and average wages by age and gender for the fourth quarters of 2010 and 2011.

Total Employment

Total Employment: The estimate of the total number of jobs on the first day of the reference quarter.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, jobs totaled 58,488 for the Rapid City MSA, a 1.7 percent increase (972 jobs gained) over the year.

Females
Women ages 14 to 18 years had the greatest decline with an 11.7 percent loss. With less than a 1 percent decrease, the only other female group to decline in total employment was the 45 to 54 age group. The greatest increase was 5.7 percent for those 55 to 65 years old.

Males
With a 9.6 percent decrease, males 14 to 18 years were the only ones to see a drop in total employment for their gender. The greatest increase for either gender was in the male 65 to 99 category, at 7.4 percent.

Hiring Activity

New Hires: The estimated number of workers who started a new job. More specifically, total hires who worked for an employer in the specified quarter and were not employed by that employer in any of the previous four quarters.

In the Rapid City MSA total new hires declined 3.2 percent from 2010 to 2011 (fourth quarters).

Females
New hire levels only increased in the two youngest female groups (4.5 percent in the 14 to 18 age group and 8.9 percent in the 19 to 21 age group.) The steepest declines in new hires were found at the other end of the age spectrum, as the three oldest groups (45 to 54, 55 to 64 and 65 to 99) all had more than 15% declines in new hire levels.

Males
Male new hire levels fared better, though males 65 to 99 years had the greatest percentage decline for either gender at 31.1 percent. New hire levels rose more than 10 percent for those ages 22 to 24 and 35 to 44.

Earnings

Average monthly earnings: The average monthly earnings of employees with stable jobs (worked at the same firm for the entire quarter).

In the Rapid City MSA, average monthly earnings inched up 1.1 percent from 2010 to 2011 (fourth quarters).

Females
Overall, women's average monthly earnings increased by 0.8 percent. Average earnings for women ages 65 to 99 and 19 to 21 declined by 2 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. The greatest increase in average earnings for females was for 22-to 24-year-olds at 1.9 percent.

Males
Overall, men's average monthly earnings increased by 1.2 percent. The only male group with lower average earnings in 2011 than 2010 was the 55 to 64 group (0.9 percent decrease). Pay for 19- to 21-year-olds increased by 5.4 percent, the most for either gender.

Industry and Gender in the Rapid City MSA

In the Rapid City MSA, the workforce across all industries is 52 percent female and 48 percent male for the fourth quarter of 2011.

Females in the Rapid City MSA made up the majority of workers in the following industries (fourth quarter, 2011):

• Health Care and Social Assistance: 79.4%
• Educational Services: 70.2%
• Finance and Insurance: 69.7%
• Accommodation and Food Services: 56.0%
• Arts, Entertainment and Recreation: 51.1%
• Professional, Scientific and Technical Services: 51.0%
• Management of Companies and Enterprises: 50.5%
• Retail Trade: 50.3%

Men in the Rapid City MSA made up the majority of workers in the following industries (fourth quarter, 2011):

• Construction: 89.2%
• Transportation and Warehousing: 81.4%
• Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting: 77.2%
• Wholesale Trade: 76.9%
• Utilities: 76.2%
• Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction: 71.4%
• Manufacturing: 70.9%
• Information: 63.4%
• Public Administration: 60.9%
• Real Estate and Rental and Leasing: 54.2%
• Administrative and Support, and Waste Management and Remediation Services: 52.3%
• Other Services (except Public Administration): 51.3%

Rapid City MSA On The Map

The following graphics provide labor shed data (where people in the area live and work) for the Rapid City MSA. At the beginning of the second quarter in 2010 (the most current data available), 87.4 percent of people who lived in the Rapid City MSA had a primary job in the MSA. The other 12.6 percent who lived in the MSA worked outside the area. Of those employed in the area, 16.3 percent commute from outside the MSA. A primary job is the highest paying job for an individual worker. Primary jobs are public- and private-sector jobs, one job per worker.

About the Local Employment Dynamics (LED) Data

The LED partnership is the cornerstone of a program designed to develop new information about local labor markets. This partnership between state labor market information agencies and the Census Bureau supplies new measures known as Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI). The LED data compiled throughout this report by the U.S. Census Bureau is not reflective of labor market reports from other Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) programs.

Note: Federal government employment is not generally included in the QWI data. Exempted employment varies slightly from state to state due to variations in state unemployment laws, but generally also excludes many farmers and agricultural employees, domestic workers, self-employed non-agricultural workers, members of the Armed Services, some state and local government employees as well as certain types of nonprofit employers and religious organizations (which are given a choice of coverage or non-coverage in a number of states).

How is confidentiality addressed in the data?

The Census Bureau and the state partners are committed to protecting the confidentiality of the data in the LED files. Technically, the approach to avoid disclosure of individual information combines cell suppression methodology with the addition of statistical noise, controlling key measures to county employment levels as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

You can easily access the LED data tools on the U.S. Census Bureau's website. The Labor Market Information Center's economic analysts are familiar with the tools and are available to assist you. Please contact us as needed for assistance.