Sioux Falls: Economy
Sioux Falls: Economy
Major Industries and Commercial Activity
In May 2005, for the third consecutive year, Forbes magazine named Sioux Falls the best small city for business and careers, a ranking based on employment, job and income growth, cost of doing business, labor pool, crime rate, housing costs, and net migration. The Sioux Falls economy is comprised of a diversity of sectors, including finance, healthcare, retailing, agriculture, tourism, and distribution and trade.
Set in a fertile agricultural region and the site of one of the world's largest stockyards, Sioux Falls has traditionally been a center for the agricultural industry. John Morrell & Company, a meat packer, is the city's third largest employer. Among other agriculture-related activities are meat processing, the production of dairy and bakery items, livestock feed milling, and the manufacture of farm implements and equipment.
When Citicorp moved its credit card operations to Sioux Falls in 1980, it launched the city to new heights in financial services. In the two decades since that time, other financial companies followed, as did those in such related sectors as insurance and real estate. The main offices of state and regional banks, as well as brokerage and insurance firms with nationwide connections, are based in the downtown financial district.
The healthcare industry figures significantly in the city's economic stability. Sioux Falls has emerged as a regional health care center, with the two major hospitals ranking as the top employers in the city, employing roughly 9,000 combined. Private physician clinics employ more than 1,000 workers.
Sioux Falls is the largest retail center between Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul. As such, it attracts more than 14 million shoppers annually from throughout the state as well as from Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska. Approximately 3,228 retail outlets employ 20 percent of Sioux Falls' labor force.
Other economic sectors important to the city are tourism, which is South Dakota's second largest industry, and distribution and trade, which take advantage of the interstate highway network and the Sioux Falls Regional Airport.
Items and goods produced: meat and meat products, fabricated steel, concrete blocks and prestressed concrete, millwork, sewn items, electronic test equipment, corrugated boxes, computer components
Incentive Programs—New and Existing Companies
Local programs
To encourage economic expansion, the Sioux Falls Development Foundation and the Chamber of Commerce jointly undertook a long-range marketing program titled "Forward Sioux Falls." The program goals include diversification of the local and state economies, creation of new enterprises, expansion of existing businesses, growth of the tax base through capital investment, and continued development of medical services, food processing, and retailing.
The Sioux Falls Development Foundation offers a number of incentives to attract new companies and retain existing businesses. The Property Tax Abatement allows new structures to be taxed at a lower rate. The Rural Electric Economic Development Fund, available in the eastern part of the state, offers financing for business development. The Minnehaha County Economic Development Association offers a Revolving Loan Fund for projects that result in significant capital investment and/or the creation of quality jobs.
State programs
The business climate of South Dakota is the first big plus for new and expanding businesses. Company owners pay no corporate or personal state income tax, no business inventory tax, and very low workers compensation rates. Additionally, the MicroLOAN South Dakota Program offers loans to small businesses in amounts up to $50,000 for use as working capital or for equipment, real estate, or other project costs. The state also offers the Revolving Economic Development & Initiative Fund to provide financing for new or existing businesses, and Economic Development Finance Authority Bonds to finance up to 80 percent of new construction and 75 percent of new equipment expenditures.
Job training programs
The state's Workforce Development Program provides businesses with partial funding to train new employees, retrain existing workers, or upgrade the training of current employees. Kilian Community College meets the educational demands of the local labor force by providing continuing education and customized training programs.
Development Projects
By the early 2000s, the population of Sioux Falls was growing at a rate of more than 3,000 residents each year, putting a strain on indoor public facilities. In response, the city established the Public Facilities Task Force in early 2004 to examine alternatives for accommodating this growth while still attracting visitors and new residents. One problem in particular needed to be addressed- the 40-year-old Sioux Falls Arena was typically booked with sporting events, rendering it unavailable for conventions and meetings. The task force arrived at a three-pronged solution. An Event Center would be constructed to accommodate stage productions and professional, college, and high school sports, as well as such events as rodeos, circuses, and rallies. A Recreation Center would offer indoor features including swimming pools, hockey rinks, soccer fields, a walking/jogging track, adventure gym, playground area, and conditioning area. Finally, the existing Sioux Falls Arena would be redesigned as a convention center complex. The Event Center would be located downtown, and the Recreation Center would be built at Nelson Park; construction on both is scheduled to begin in 2006 and end in 2008. Remodeling of the Sioux Falls Arena will begin in 2008 and be completed in one year.
The "Phillips to the Falls" project was underway in the mid-2000s. This expansion project will connect Falls Park, the city's natural beauty centerpiece, to downtown via Phillips Avenue, enabling people to walk from the park through the city's showcase of restored twentieth-century commercial architecture. By acquiring additional land, the city was also pursuing expansion of Falls Park to the north.
South Dakota has adopted the "2010 Initiative," a state-wide program to increase economic growth and visitor spending by the year 2010. Among the goals of the initiative are to double visitor spending from $600 million to $1.2 billion; to increase the gross state product by $10 billion; and become a recognized leader in research and technology. By 2005 Sioux Falls was already experiencing success in these areas, especially in the third goal. In 2003 Hematech LLC, a biotechnology firm, announced plans to construct a $15 million headquarters and plant in the city. "This is exactly the type of economic development we are looking for," said Governor Mike Rounds in the Argus Leader, continuing, "It promises to bring together the academic research and corporate worlds."
Economic Development Information: Sioux Falls Development Foundation, 200 N. Phillips Ave., Ste. 101, Sioux Falls, SD 57104; telephone (605)339-0103; toll-free (800)658-3373; fax (605)339-0055; email [email protected]
Commercial Shipping
Sioux Falls, known as one of the "Crossroads of the Nation," is situated at the intersection of I-90, an east-west highway connecting Boston, MA, with Seattle, WA, and I-29, which runs north-south between Kansas City, Kansas, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. So situated, the city has long been a hub for the distribution of automobiles, trucks, food, fuel, oil, gasoline, machinery, plastics, and paper products. More than 50 truck lines provide over-the-road transportation through Sioux Falls to markets throughout the nation. Rail service is provided by Burlington Northern Santa Fe and the Ellis & Eastern railroads. Air cargo services at Joe Foss Field, the largest regional airport in South Dakota, are provided by FedEx, United Parcel Service, and DHL Worldwide. Additionally, the airport serves as the state's only Foreign Trade Zone, an area where foreign goods bound for international destinations can be temporarily stored without incurring an import duty.
Labor Force and Employment Outlook
Sioux Falls is consistently listed among the top metropolitan areas for economic strength and an expanding business community. Companies moving to Sioux Falls routinely report an increase in productivity and a decrease in overhead costs. In 2003 the total available labor supply was approximately 11,986, drawn from 12 counties in three states.
The following is a summary of data regarding the Sioux Falls metropolitan area labor force, 2004 annual average.
Size of nonagricultural labor force: 122,900
Number of workers employed in . . .
construction and mining: 6,800
manufacturing: 12,400
trade, transportation and utilities: 26,700
information: 2,700
financial activities: 15,300
professional and business services: 8,200
educational and health services: 22,400
leisure and hospitality: 12,000
other services: 5,100
government: 11,400
Average hourly earnings of production workers employed in manufacturing: $13.36 (2004; statewide figure)
Unemployment rate: 3.5% (February 2005)
Largest non-government employers | Number of employees |
Sioux Valley Hospital and University of South Dakota Medical Center | 5,379 |
Avera McKennan Hospital and University Medical Center | 3,449 |
John Morrell & Company | 3,301 |
Citigroup Inc. | 3,200 |
Sioux Falls School District | 3,000 |
Wells Fargo Bank Operations Center | 2,316 |
Hy-Vee Food Stores | 1,676 |
Midwest Coast Transport | 1,290 |
Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society | 1,200 |
WalMart/Sam's Club | 1,152 |
Cost of Living
The following is a summary of data regarding several key cost of living factors in the Sioux Falls area.
2004 (3rd Quarter) ACCRA Average House Price: $211,250
2004 (3rd Quarter) ACCRA Cost of Living Index: 95.2 (U.S. average = 100.0)
State income tax rate: None
State sales tax rate: 4.0%
Local income tax rate: None
Local sales tax rate: 1.92%
Property tax rate: $24.546 per $1,000 of assessed valuation (2003)
Economic Information: Sioux Falls Development Foundation, 200 N. Phillips Ave., Ste. 101, Sioux Falls, SD 57104; telephone (605)339-0103; toll-free (800)658-3373; fax (605)339-0055; email [email protected]
Sioux Falls: Recreation
Sioux Falls: Recreation
Sightseeing
Local sightseeing revolves around the natural beauty and history of Sioux Falls. A good place to begin a sightseeing tour is at the Visitor Information Center and 50-foot observation tower at Falls Park. This park is located where the Big Sioux River forms the Falls, a natural phenomenon from which the city takes its name. Falls Park is home to two buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places—the 1907 Sioux Falls Light & Power Hydroelectric Plant, known as the "NSP Building," and the Queen Bee Mill, a flour mill built in the nineteenth century that proved to be too large for the river's typical water flow. The Memorial to the Pioneers at the junction of North Drive and North Cliff Avenue marks the spot where pioneers from Iowa first saw the Falls of the Sioux. The Monarch of the Plains Sculpture is a 12-ton piece of mahogany granite, and the Horse Barn Arts Center features the works of local artists. Falls Park also offers Sound and Light shows, self-guided historic walking tours, and a farmers market.
The 45-acre Great Plains Zoo is home to more than 100 species represented by more than 400 live reptiles, birds, and mammals from around the world. The adjoining Delbridge Museum of Natural History features an extensive display of mounted animals. Sertoma Park, situated aside the Big Sioux River, features picnic shelters, the Outdoor Campus park, and the Sertoma Butterfly House, a facility housing nearly 1,000 butterflies that opened in 2002. Created between 1928 and 1936, the Shoto-teien Japanese Gardens near Covell Lake have been restored. The Pettigrew Home and Museum is the renovated home of one of South Dakota's first two United States Senators. The USS South Dakota Battleship Memorial honors the most decorated battleship of World War II. At EROS Data Center, a United States Department of Interior research and development facility near Sioux Falls, millions of satellite and aircraft photos of the earth are on display together with a pictorial history of Sioux Falls from 1937 to the present. Located five miles west of Sioux Falls is Buffalo Ridge, a cowboy ghost town featuring more than 50 exhibits, a buffalo herd, and the region's largest souvenir and fireworks store.
Arts and Culture
The Sioux Falls Community Playhouse stages a season of theater productions at the Orpheum Theatre; these range from drama to musicals and children's shows and draw casts from local performers. The Olde Towne Dinner Theatre in Worthing presents live theater and dinner. The drama departments at Augustana College and Sioux Falls College mount productions during the school year. Local cultural groups sponsor touring dance, musical, and Broadway performances at Sioux Falls College's Jeschke Fine Arts Center.
The Washington Pavilion of Arts & Science is the region's leading entertainment, cultural, and educational facility, comprised of several distinct components. The Husby Performing Arts Center is home to the South Dakota Symphony, which presents classical and pops concerts featuring guest artists and soloists during a September-through-May season. The Kirby Science Discovery Center features interactive exhibits, and the Wells Fargo CineDome Theater presents IMAX motion pictures in a 60-foot domed theater. Six art galleries comprise the Visual Arts Center. The Washington Pavilion also houses an educational and gift shop, as well as a café.
Exhibits at the Siouxland Heritage Museums and Center for Western Studies capture the culture of the area's Plains tribes and the city's early settlers. The Old Courthouse Museum features a restored 1890s courtroom and law library. Art from the nation's top western artists, including work by the late Jim Savage, and Sioux culture items are on display at the Center for Western Studies. Minnehaha County's historic rural churches offer a chance to examine nineteenth-century church architecture and religious customs imported to the western frontier from Norway, Sweden, and other Scandinavian countries.
Festivals and Holidays
More than 30,000 visitors attend the Sioux Falls and Sioux Empire farm shows at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds over four days in January. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated with a parade downtown. A major spring event is the Festival of Choirs at Augustana College. June brings RibFest, known as "South Dakota's Biggest Backyard BBQ." Also taking place that month are the Siouxland Renaissance Festival, the Sioux Falls Festival of Cultures, Artfalls Fine Arts Festival, and Nordland Fest, Augustana College's tribute to Scandinavia. Free jazz and blues music can be heard for two days in July at JazzFest. Hot Harley Nights, which includes a motorcycle parade through downtown, and Hot Summer Nites, offering rock and roll music and a display of hundreds of Corvettes and Harleys, both take place in July as well.
The Sidewalk Arts Festival, the region's largest one-day outdoor festival, draws 50,000 people each September with 350 fine art, folk art, craft, and food booths. German Fest, the Downtown Harvest Festival, and Spirit of the West, a tribute to the area's western heritage, are also held in September. High school marching bands participate in competitions and a parade in October's Festival of Bands. The holiday season begins in November with the Parade of Lights, Festival of Trees, and Winter Wonderland at Falls Park. The year comes to a close with First Night, an alcohol-free family celebration taking place throughout Sioux Falls during the day and evening of December 31st.
Sports for the Spectator
The Sioux Falls Arena hosts home games of the Continental Basketball Association's Sioux Falls Skyforce, the U.S. Hockey League's Sioux Falls Stampede, and the Indoor Football League's Sioux Falls Storm, which had its inaugural season in 2001. The Sioux Falls Canaries play baseball at Sioux Falls Stadium. O'Gorman High School hosts the soccer games of the Sioux Falls Spitfire and the minor league football competitions of the Dakota Lawdawgs.
Augustana College and the University of Sioux Falls both have successful football college teams that compete in most collegiate sports. State high school basketball tournament competition takes place at Sioux Falls Arena in March. Sioux Falls softball and baseball fields and the Sioux Falls Stadium host local, regional, and national competition throughout the season. The acclaimed Howard Wood Field hosts track and football events.
Sports for the Participant
Golf magazine has raved about Sioux Falls's golf courses and the opportunities they offer for "prairie golf." The magazine praised the area's "gently rolling topography with an ambiance close to the links courses of Scotland, minus the heather and ocean spray." The city of Sioux Falls maintains 67 parks and outdoor recreation centers totaling more than 2,800 acres. In addition to the usual park facilities there can be found swimming pools, soccer fields, lighted skating areas, sand volleyball courts, a disc golf course, and cross-country ski trails. The 16-mile Greenway system of bicycle and hiking trails is a popular attraction. The city is the gateway to the glacial lakes region and the Missouri River, where the walleye fishing is said to be the best in the country. Hundreds of thousands of hunters come to South Dakota each fall for ring-neck pheasant and waterfowl hunting. Winter sports enthusiasts gather at Great Bear Ski Resort for downhill skiing, snowboarding, and tubing.
Shopping and Dining
Shopping malls and a redeveloped downtown retail district in Sioux Falls offer shoppers more than 3,200 options ranging from small specialty shops to major retail outlets. The Empire and Empire East Mall contain 180 retail establishments. Park Ridge Galleria, the oldest enclosed shopping center in Sioux Falls, is an upscale specialty mall located downtown. Sioux Falls is a central trading center for Native American crafts. Buyers travel to state reservations, including Rosebud and Pine Ridge, to supply local outlets such as Prairie Star Gallery with star quilts, painted hides, sculpture, and jewelry, designed and made by tribal crafters. Shopping is also available at the Old Courthouse Museum downtown.
More than 500 restaurants present menu choices that include Japanese, Chinese, French, Mexican, and Greek dishes. The local specialty is beefsteak; venison is also popular.
Visitor Information: Sioux Falls Convention & Visitors Bureau, 200 N. Phillips Ave., Ste. 102, Sioux Falls, SD 57104; telephone (605)336-1620; toll-free 800-333-2072; fax (605)336-6499; email [email protected]
Sioux Falls: Education and Research
Sioux Falls: Education and Research
Elementary and Secondary Schools
South Dakota boasts one of the highest graduation rates in the country. Public elementary and secondary schools in Sioux Falls are in Sioux Falls School District 49-5, which enrolls the highest number of students in the state. A five-member, nonpartisan school board appoints a superintendent. Teachers in the district have an average of 15.6 years of experience, and 45.5 percent hold advanced degrees.
The following is a summary of data regarding Sioux Falls public schools as of the 2003–2004 school year.
Total enrollment: 20,337
Number of facilities
elementary schools: 23
middle schools: 5
senior high schools: 4
other: 4
Student/teacher ratio: 16:1
Teacher salaries
average: $37,728
Funding per pupil: $5,071
Fifteen parochial and private elementary and secondary schools provide alternative educational curricula to about 3,700 students. Special schools in the city include a vocational school for the handicapped, a school and hospital for disabled children, and a school for the deaf.
Public Schools Information: Sioux Falls School District, 201 E. 38th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57105; telephone (605)367-7900
Colleges and Universities
Sioux Falls is home to Augustana College, the largest private college in the state. Affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church and enrolling 1,800 students each year, the college awards Bachelor of Arts degrees in more than 40 areas of study and Masters of Arts in nursing and secondary/special education. The University of Sioux Falls, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA, enrolls nearly 1,500 students pursuing degrees in such areas as business administration, elementary education, exercise science, biology, and theology/philosophy. USDSU Sioux Falls is a partnership of three universities—the University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University, and Dakota State University. USDSU Sioux Falls caters to adult students by offering evening and once-per-week classes; each year more than 1,900 students pursue degrees at the certificate, associate, bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels.
In 2001 the Southeast Technical Institute, which serves 3,500 full- and part-time students, opened the newest building on its 168-acre campus. The Sioux Falls campus of Colorado Technical University offers associate, bachelors, and masters degrees in such areas as technology, business, criminal justice, and health sciences. Sioux Falls serves as the primary clinical campus of the University of South Dakota School of Medicine, as well as site for the nurse anesthesia graduate program of Mount Marty College. Kilian Community College, located in downtown Sioux Falls, offers studies in such areas as accounting, business management, computers, chemical dependency, medical office professional, and word processing. Other institutions of higher learning include National American University, North American Baptist Seminary, and Sioux Valley Hospital's School of Medical and Radiologic Technology.
Libraries and Research Centers
The Siouxland Libraries System maintains holdings of about 387,000 items including periodical titles, tapes, videos, and art prints. It consists of the main library, two city branches, eight county branches, a bookmobile, and an outreach service van. The library, a depository for federal and state documents, houses special collections in South Dakota history and oral history. A new, 14,900-square-foot Oak View city branch will open its doors in the spring of 2005.
The Mikkelsen Library and Learning Resources Center at Augustana College holds more than 200,000 volumes; the Center for Western Studies, a special collection within the library system, brings together 30,000 volumes pertaining to the Upper Great Plains and oral history.
A dozen or so other libraries and research centers are operated by colleges, hospitals, Siouxland Heritage Museums, and such government agencies as the Sioux Falls Police Department, the South Dakota State Penitentiary, and the United States Geological Survey.
Public Library Information: Siouxland Libraries, 201 N. Main Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57104-6002; telephone (605)367-8720; fax (605)367-4312
Sioux Falls: History
Sioux Falls: History
Falls on Big Sioux River Attract Settlers
Attracted by the economic potential of the Sioux Falls on the Big Sioux River, Dr. George M. Staples of Dubuque, Iowa, organized Western Town near the falls in 1856. Staples and his group hoped that the settlement would become the capital of the Territory of Dakota, but it was not chosen. Instead, in the winter of 1856, the Legislature of Minnesota Territory chartered the Dakota Land Company and established the town of Sioux Falls.
In August 1862 the settlers, fearing violence from the local Native Americans, abandoned the village. Raiders did burn the buildings and destroy everything, including an old Smith printing press used by the Sioux Falls Democrat that was dumped in the Big Sioux River after it was stripped of decorative items. Fort Dakota, a military post, was established in the area in May 1865, to help assure the resettlement of Sioux Falls. Another incentive came when the water power of the falls was harnessed in 1873. A scourge of grasshoppers in 1874 hurt resettlement, but by 1876 Sioux Falls claimed a population of 600 people. Sioux Falls was incorporated as a town in 1877 and as a city in 1889.
In the last decades of the nineteenth century, Northern European immigrants were attracted to the Territory of Dakota, which resembled their homeland. The establishment of rail transport in the area in 1878 enabled locals to begin shipping "Sioux Falls granite," a pink quartzite bedrock second only to diamond in hardness. The city's two church-affiliated private schools date to this period; Augustana College, a Lutheran school, was founded in 1860, and the University of Sioux Falls, a Baptist school, opened in 1883.
Agriculture Provides Economic Base
Life on the Plains was a test of endurance. Snow began falling in October 1880 and continued until the following spring, isolating residents and forcing them to burn corn, wheat, hay, and railroad ties for heat sources. In spite of hardship, Sioux Falls gained in economic importance. South Dakota's lenient divorce law brought outsiders into Sioux Falls until the law was changed in 1908. One memorable case unfolded when the wife of heavyweight boxing champion Bob Fitzsimmons sought a divorce in Sioux Falls. Her distraught husband followed her and managed to change her mind. To celebrate their reunion, Fitzsimmons forged horseshoes and passed them out to admirers; in the process, the local blacksmith shop's floor gave way, injuring a young boy. Fitzsimmons then organized a benefit performance and gave the proceeds to the boy's family.
In 1942 the U.S. War Department leased Sioux Falls land for the construction of the Air Force Technical Radio School, invigorating the local economy and social life. Sioux Falls native Joe Foss won the Congressional Medal of Honor for shooting down 31 enemy airplanes in the Pacific campaign of World War II; after the war, Foss returned to Sioux Falls to become a successful businessman and commander of the South Dakota Air National Guard.
A Leader in Financial Services and Retail
Today Sioux Falls, through the processing of agricultural products, serves as a distribution center for farms in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota. Ushered in by Citicorp, financial services has emerged as a primary industry, with healthcare close behind. The city is also a retail hot spot—the largest retail center between Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Sioux Falls attracts more than 14 million shoppers each year. Spurred in part by a statewide initiative, the city is focusing on becoming a driving force in research and technology. Sioux Falls offers amenities and points of interest including the University of Sioux Falls and Augustana College, a Baptist seminary, a school for the deaf, and its namesake, the Falls of the Big Sioux River.
Historical Information: Pettigrew Home & Museum, 200 W. 6th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57102; telephone (605)367-7097
Sioux Falls: Communications
Sioux Falls: Communications
Newspapers and Magazines
The Sioux Falls daily newspaper is the Argus Leader, which is distributed every morning. Other newspapers, including a farm tabloid and college publications, appear weekly and bimonthly. Several magazines are published in Sioux Falls on such subjects as education, wool growing, trucking, knitting and weaving, and poetry.
Television and Radio
Five television stations are received in Sioux Falls; cable channels are available by subscription. Radio listeners tune in programs on nearly two dozen AM and FM radio stations in the city, which also receives radio broadcasts from Florence and Reliance, South Dakota.
Media Information: Argus Leader, 200 S. Minnesota Ave., PO Box 5034, Sioux Falls, SD 57117-5034; telephone (605)331-2205; toll-free (800)222-5207
Sioux Falls Online
Argus Leader. Available www.argusleader.com
City of Sioux Falls home page. Available www.siouxfalls.org
Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce. Available www.siouxfallschamber.com
Sioux Falls Convention & Visitors Bureau. Available www.siouxfallscvb.com
Sioux Falls Development Foundation. Available www.siouxfallsdevelopment.com
Sioux Falls School District. Available www.sf.k12.sd.us
Siouxland Libraries. Available www.siouxland.lib.sd.us
Selected Bibliography
Brown, Dee Alexander, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1971, 1970)
Christopherson, Marie, Driftwood in a Time of War (Prairie Plains, No 4) (Center for Western Studies, 1995)
Cook-Lynn, Elizabeth, The Power of Horses and Other Stories (New York: Arcade Pub., 1990)
Landau, Elaine, The Sioux (New York: F. Watts, 1989)
LaPointe, Frank, The Sioux Today (New York: Crowell-Collier Press, 1972)
Turner, Ann Warren, Grasshopper Summer (New York: MacMillan, 1989)
Wilder, Laura Ingalls, By the Shores of Silver Lake (New York: Harper & Row, 1971)
Wood, Ted, A Boy Becomes a Man at Wounded Knee: Ted Wood with Wanbli Numpa Afraid of Hawk (New York: Walker, 1992)
Woster, Terry, Stephen Thurman, and Catherine Thurman, The Spirit of Sioux Falls (Towery Publ., 1992)
Sioux Falls: Population Profile
Sioux Falls: Population Profile
Metropolitan Area Residents
1980: 109,435
1990: 139,236
2000: 172,412
Percent change, 1990–2000: 23.8%
U.S. rank in 1980: 270th
U.S. rank in 1990: Not reported
U.S. rank in 2000: 180th
City Residents
1990: 100,836
2000: 123,975
2003 estimate: 133,834
Percent change, 1990–2000: 22.9%
U.S. rank in 1980: 223rd
U.S. rank in 1990: 194th
U.S. rank in 2000: 195th (State rank: 1st)
Density: 2,201.4 people per square mile (in 2000)
Racial and ethnic characteristics (2000)
White: 113,938
Black or African American: 2,226
American Indian and Alaska Native: 2,627
Asian: 1,479
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander: 68
Hispanic or Latino (may be of any race): 3,087
Other: 1,521
Percent of residents born in state: 60.2%
Age characteristics (2000)
Population under 5 years old: 9,072
Population 5 to 9 years old: 8,619
Population 10 to 14 years old: 8,461
Population 15 to 19 years old: 9,073
Population 20 to 24 years old: 10,601
Population 25 to 34 years old: 19,853
Population 35 to 44 years old: 20,257
Population 45 to 54 years old: 15,513
Population 55 to 59 years old: 4,915
Population 60 to 64 years old: 3,879
Population 65 to 74 years old: 6,908
Population 75 to 84 years old: 4,908
Population 85 years and older: 1,916
Median age: 33.0 years
Births (2003, Minnehaha County)
Total number: 2,485
Deaths (2003, Minnehaha County)
Total number: 1,156 (of which, 11 were infants under the age of 1 year)
Money income (1999)
Per capita income: $21,374
Median household income: $41,221
Total households: 49,740
Number of households with income of . . .
less than $10,000: 3,367
$10,000 to $14,999: 2,827
$15,000 to $24,999: 7,146
$25,000 to $34,999: 7,133
$35,000 to $49,999: 9,740
$50,000 to $74,999: 10,468
$75,000 to $99,999: 4,526
$100,000 to $149,999: 3,056
$150,000 to $199,999: 799
$200,000 or more: 678
Percent of families below poverty level: 5.6% (40.4% of which were female householder families with related children under 5 years)
2002 FBI Crime Index Total: 4,189
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls: IntroductionSioux Falls: Geography and Climate
Sioux Falls: History
Sioux Falls: Population Profile
Sioux Falls: Municipal Government
Sioux Falls: Economy
Sioux Falls: Education and Research
Sioux Falls: Health Care
Sioux Falls: Recreation
Sioux Falls: Convention Facilities
Sioux Falls: Transportation
Sioux Falls: Communications
The City in Brief
Founded: 1870 (incorporated, 1889)
Head Official: Mayor Dave Munson (since 2002)
City Population
1990: 100,836
2000: 123,975
2003 estimate: 133,834
Percent change, 1990–2000: 22.9%
U.S. rank in 1980: 223rd
U.S. rank in 1990: 194th
U.S. rank in 2000: 195th
Metropolitan Area Population
1980: 109,435
1990: 139,236
2000: 172,412
Percent change, 1990–2000: 23.8%
U.S. rank in 1980: 270th
U.S. rank in 1990: Not reported
U.S. rank in 2000: 180th
Area: 56.34 square miles (2000)
Elevation: 1,421 feet above sea level
Annual Average Temperature: 45.1° F
Average Annual Precipitation: 24.69 inches of rain, 38.1 inches of snow
Major Economic Sectors: Wholesale and retail trade, services, manufacturing
Unemployment Rate: 3.5% (February 2005)
Per Capita Income: $21,374 (1999)
2002 FBI Crime Index Total: 4,189
Major Colleges and Universities: Augustana College; University of Sioux Falls
Daily Newspaper: Argus Leader
Sioux Falls: Health Care
Sioux Falls: Health Care
Sioux Falls has emerged as a major center for health care in a four-state region of the Upper Midwest. Central to the health care community is the University of South Dakota School of Medicine; several of the city's practicing physicians serve on the faculty of the School of Medicine, which maintains an association with five hospitals in the area. The Sioux Valley Hospitals and Health System is a network of more than 150 healthcare facilities with 537 beds. The largest hospital in the system in Sioux Valley Hospital USD Medical Center, and the Sioux Valley Clinic is the largest and most comprehensive in the region. In 2002 Sioux Valley opened the NORTH Center, specializing in orthopedic and neurosciences. The Heart Hospital of South Dakota is the area's only hospital specializing in cardiovascular disease, and the 429-bed Avera McKennan Hospital offers the region's only burn unit, bone marrow transplant program, and kidney transport program. Other facilities include the Sioux Falls Department of Veterans Affairs Medical and Regional Office Center, the Children's Care Hospital and School, and Select Specialty Hospital, providing long-term acute care to patients with such health problems as traumatic brain injuries, ventilator dependence, and postsurgical complications.
Sioux Falls: Geography and Climate
Sioux Falls: Geography and Climate
Located in the Big Sioux River Valley in southeast South Dakota, Sioux Falls is surrounded by gently rolling terrain that slopes to higher elevations approximately 100 miles to the north-northeast and to the south. The city's climate is continental, exhibiting frequent weather changes from day to day and from week to week as differing air masses move into the area. During the late fall and winter, strong winds cause abrupt drops in temperature, but cold spells are usually of short duration. Snowfall and sleet average 38.1 inches yearly, and one or two heavy snows fall each winter, with blizzard conditions sometimes resulting. Thunderstorms are common in late spring and summer; tornadoes can occur from spring through summer. Flooding from melting snow runoff in the spring along the Big Sioux River and Skunk Creek is reduced by a diversion canal around the city.
Area: 56.34 square miles (2000)
Elevation: 1,421 feet above sea level
Average Temperatures: January, 14.0° F; July, 73.0° F; annual average, 45.1° F
Average Annual Precipitation: 24.69 inches of rain, 38.1 inches of snow
Sioux Falls: Transportation
Sioux Falls: Transportation
Approaching the City
The largest air facility in South Dakota, Sioux Falls Regional Airport at Joe Foss Field is the destination for air traffic into Sioux Falls. The airport reported 92,482 landings and takeoffs in 2003, serving more than 300,000 passengers. Eight commercial carriers schedule daily flights, providing direct or connecting service to most major cities in the country.
East-west I-90, joining Boston and Seattle, and north-south I-29, connecting metropolitan Kansas City with Winnipeg, Canada, intersect northwest of Sioux Falls. I-229, a beltway around the eastern sector of the city, links I-90 and I-29. U.S. highways 18 and 81 also serve the area.
Traveling in the City
Sioux Falls Transit provides bus transportation and a trolley available for special tours, and Sioux Falls Paratransit provides service to the elderly and disabled. The Sioux Falls Trolley offers free transport to Falls Park and downtown attractions on weekdays and Saturdays throughout the summer.