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Brookings is a medium-sized city located in the state of South Dakota. With a population of 23,577 people and five constituent neighborhoods, Brookings is the fourth largest community in South Dakota.
Brookings is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Brookings is a city of professionals, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Brookings who work in teaching (10.88%), office and administrative support (9.08%), and sales jobs (8.95%).
And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Brookings has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too.
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 8.08% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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.
Because Brookings has a very large number of students who are 18 years or older and in college, it is thought of as a college town. This has a major influence on local Brookings lifestyle, entertainment, and culture in general. Life in Brookings is very much tied to the academic calendar: when students return from the summer break in the fall, one will notice them out and about, buying groceries, out with friends, and generally getting re-acquainted with each other. In Brookings people study hard and play hard, and there is ample opportunity to do both.
Brookings, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.
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 13.90 minutes getting to work every day.
The education level of Brookings ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Brookings, 48.47% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree.
The per capita income in Brookings in 2018 was $27,116, which is lower middle income relative to South Dakota, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $108,464 for a family of four. However, Brookings contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Brookings is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Brookings home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Brookings residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Brookings include German, Norwegian, Irish, English, and Dutch.
The most common language spoken in Brookings is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Arabic.