I-29 corridor · Glacial Lakes

Watertown

South Dakota · 23,736 people

Great Places, Great Times is the city's slogan. The practical version: a manufacturing wage, a lake, and a tech college your kids can afford.

Photo: Visit Watertown SD

Population: 23,736 (2025 est.)
State income tax: None in South Dakota
Technical college: Lake Area Technical College, in city
Airport: Watertown Regional (ATY), commercial service

The place

Watertown sits between Lake Kampeska and Pelican Lake on I-29, with its own regional airport and commercial service. Lake Area Technical College trains the region's technicians and nurses right in town, and Prairie Lakes Healthcare anchors care for a wide rural catchment.

Lake Kampeska and Pelican Lake — swimming, fishing and boating minutes from work.
The Redlin Art Center, one of the region's best-known galleries.
Downtown Art Walk and an active local arts calendar.
Hunting and fishing culture in the Glacial Lakes region.
Bike trails and lakeside paths that make a car optional in summer.

Getting around

Sioux Falls, SD: ~1h20
Fargo, ND: ~2h45
Minneapolis, MN: ~3h15
Brookings, SD: ~1 hour

Housing

South Dakota levies no state income tax, which changes the arithmetic of a Watertown wage. Housing runs from lake-adjacent properties on Kampeska to established in-town neighbourhoods and new build on the edges.

The community, as it photographs itself

Main streets, festivals, working days.

Visitors outside the Redlin Art Center in Watertown · Visit Watertown SD

Downtown Art Walk in Watertown · Visit Watertown SD

Hunting and fishing in the Glacial Lakes region · Visit Watertown SD

Historic homes district in Watertown · Visit Watertown SD

Who hires here

The employer base, sector by sector.

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System

Healthcare

Regional hospital and clinic network.

Lake Area Technical College

Education

Technical and career training campus in the city.

Watertown School District

Education

K-12 across the city.

Glacial Lakes Energy

Ag processing / energy

Ethanol and grain processing in the region.

Manufacturing sector

Manufacturing

A cluster of metal fabrication, equipment and electrical contractors.

Healthcare

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System — the regional hospital serving Watertown and the surrounding counties.
Clinic, specialty and senior-care providers across the city.
Lake Area Technical College trains nursing and allied-health staff locally, feeding straight into those employers.

Schools and training

Lake Area Technical College — 'Hands On. Career Ready.' technical training with career-fair Tech Days.
Watertown School District for K-12.
Universities in Brookings and Sioux Falls are an hour or less down I-29.

Arriving here

You will not be the first.

Manufacturing and processing employers here recruit across the region and internationally.
Statewide resettlement and new-American services operate from Sioux Falls, about 80 minutes south.
A community used to welcoming students and families through the technical college each intake.

A year in Watertown

Watertown 4th of July Parade · July 4: The city's biggest turnout of the year.
Annual Art Walk · Summer: Downtown galleries, studios and street art.
Lake Area Tech 'Tech Days' · Autumn: Career fair connecting students with regional employers.