South Dakota manufacturing fact sheet
THE FACTORY CENSUS, Q3 2026 · FACTORYREGISTRY RESEARCH · SNAPSHOT JUL 2026
As of JUL 2026, FactoryRegistry lists 667 manufacturing facilities in South Dakota, of which 432 (64.8%) carry a recent operating signal. That is 72.13 facilities per 100,000 residents.
Top counties
| COUNTY | FACILITIES |
|---|---|
| Minnehaha | 148 |
| Pennington | 60 |
| Codington | 46 |
| Brookings | 35 |
| Lincoln | 29 |
| Yankton | 28 |
| Davison | 26 |
| Brown | 25 |
| Union | 23 |
| Beadle | 20 |
Leading industries
| SUBSECTOR | FACILITIES |
|---|---|
| 311 Food Manufacturing | 107 |
| 333 Machinery Manufacturing | 100 |
| 332 Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing | 100 |
| 325 Chemical Manufacturing | 71 |
| 336 Transportation Equipment Manufacturing | 60 |
Largest listed employers
| FACILITY | CITY | EMPLOYEES |
|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | Aberdeen | 500+ |
| Brookings | Brookings | 500+ |
| Link Snacks INC. | Alpena | 500+ |
| New Angus, LLC dba DemKota Ranch Beef | Aberdeen | 500+ |
| Sd01-dakt-south Dakota Brookings | Brookings | 500+ |
| Smithfield Foods | Sioux Falls | 500+ |
| Terex - Watertown | Watertown | 500+ |
| "4082 - Dakota Panel Cut to size" | Rapid City | 100-499 |
| Adams Thermal Systems INC | Canton | 100-499 |
| AGI Hansen Hi Roller | Sioux Falls | 100-499 |
Ranked by reported employment band. Facilities whose sources report no band are not listed here.
Coverage
The registry lists 667 facilities in South Dakota against a BLS QCEW benchmark of 1,041 manufacturing establishments (2024) — coverage of 64.1%. The benchmark is a floor: QCEW counts establishments covered by unemployment insurance and so excludes most sole proprietors and some contract operations. The real number of manufacturing sites is therefore higher than the benchmark, and this percentage overstates coverage rather than understating it. Where it exceeds 100%, the registry lists more sites than QCEW counts establishments — which is expected in states with many small or single-person operations, and is also where duplicate listings would show up first.
Full census, Q3 2026 · South Dakota in the registry
FactoryRegistry Research, The Factory Census, Q3 2026 — factoryregistry.com/census/2026-q3/sd · press@factoryregistry.com