Drinking places (bars) in South Dakota 365 establishments · 3,738 employees · 2024

Firms (SD)

365

Employment

3,738

Avg Annual Pay

$19,844

State Rank

#33 of 51

How South Dakota compares to national

Metric	South Dakota	National	South Dakota vs. U.S.
Establishments	365	42,911	0.9% of U.S. total
Avg annual pay	$19,844	$26,603	-$6,759 (-25.4%)
Location quotient	2.56	1.00	156% denser than national
Avg firm size (employees)	10.2	9.5	—
Year-over-year firm growth	+1.7%	—	—

Reading this

An establishment is a single physical location where business is conducted. A firm with multiple locations counts as multiple establishments. "Avg pay" is wages and salaries per employee, including bonuses and tips — for proprietorships, the owner's take is largely outside this number. The location quotient (LQ) of 2.56 means drinking places (bars) are 156% over-represented in South Dakota's business mix relative to the U.S. average.

Top 10 states for drinking places (bars)

Rank	State	Firms	Avg Pay
1	New York	3,418	$34,881
2	Illinois	3,149	$25,010
3	California	3,025	$30,213
4	Texas	2,971	$26,081
5	Wisconsin	2,890	$17,294
6	Florida	2,117	$33,256
7	Pennsylvania	2,102	$21,306
8	Ohio	2,024	$21,460
9	Michigan	1,570	$24,878
10	Louisiana	1,081	$23,631

Source. BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages — 2024 annual averages, private-ownership only, NAICS 722410. Establishment counts include any firm with at least one paid employee covered by state unemployment insurance.

SMB Density · firm counts, employment, and wages by industry × state · data from BLS QCEW 2024 annual (private ownership, state-level; mostly 6-digit NAICS, 3 specialty-trade industries at 5-digit aggregation) · data.json