Survey: Remote Workers in Sioux Falls See Rates of Working from Home Continuing or Increasing in Near Term

(SIOUX FALLS, S.D.) March 31, 2023 — As the trend of remote work has taken hold across the U.S. since 2020, the vast majority of Sioux Falls-based employees working from home expect the prevalence of remote work to sustain or increase in the next six to 12 months, according to a March survey of Bluepeak internet customers.

Furthermore, the survey results indicate roughly two-in-ten respondents had moved to Sioux Falls or stayed there, based on their ability to be employed on a remote-work basis. In addition, while the majority of remote workers in Sioux Falls would stay in the city and pursue in-person employment if their current arrangement were no longer an option, roughly one-in-four said they would prefer to leave the city in pursuit of other remote work options, according the Bluepeak survey findings.

The survey on work-from-home trends in Sioux Falls uncovered several decisions consumers and employees have made or would make based on their current remote work status, including what internet provider they would choose, where they would live, whether they would remain employed, and more.

The findings from Bluepeak’s survey of internet users who work from home in Sioux Falls, include:

The comprehensive findings from the research are as follows:

• The vast majority of respondents expect the trend of remote work to stay the same or increase in the next six months to a year. Twenty-one percent indicated they expect remote work to increase while 76% expect the trend to sustain at its current level. Just 2% suggested they expect working from home to decrease in the near future and 1% declined to respond.
• A slight majority of those surveyed reported working in a fully remote capacity (51%). Nearly 48% confirmed working on a hybrid remote and in-person basis. Less than 1% declined to give an answer.
• The industries representing the highest frequency of remote workers in Sioux Falls included Finance (20%), Healthcare (16%), Insurance (8%), IT and Software or Technology (each at 5%), Telecommunications (4%), Education (3%) and Sales (2%). Other various industries (Accounting, Construction, Engineering, Government, Manufacturing, Legal, etc.) accounted for nearly half of respondents (48%).
• The most frequent uses for internet bandwidth cited by respondents included Zoom meetings and video calls, Virtual Private Network (VPN) access, email, large file data transfer and gaming.
• Roughly two-in-ten respondents confirmed they had moved to Sioux Falls or stayed there, based on their ability to live in the area and be employed on a remote-work basis. 78% said the opportunity to work remotely did not factor into their decision to reside in Sioux Falls while 22% said it did. 1% declined to respond.
• More than one-in-four respondents reported switching their internet service provider in order to accommodate their remote work needs. Specifically, 72% indicated they did not need to switch providers based on their needs to do remote work while 27% confirmed their remote work needs prompted them to switch. 1% declined to answer. All respondents were current Bluepeak customers.
• A majority of respondents said they determined their current internet provider, Bluepeak, based on their need to conduct remote work. 54% of respondents indicated this with 44% saying their remote work needs did not factor into their selection of their internet service provider. Less than 1% declined to give an answer.
• When asked to consider if their remote work from Sioux Falls arrangement was no longer an option, a majority of respondents (52%) indicated they would stay in the city and pursue in-person employment. But nearly one quarter (24%) shared they would leave Sioux Falls in pursuit of other remote work options. Another 7% said they would leave the workforce altogether to remain in Sioux Falls. Just 1% of respondents each said they would leave Sioux Falls to find alternative in-person employment or they would retire from working and leave Sioux Falls. Eleven percent were undecided.

Bluepeak conducted the electronic survey between Feb. 28 and March 8 this year, reaching out to several thousand of their internet customers in Sioux Falls and receiving responses from 205 total respondents. The intent of the survey was to better understand the remote work trend in the Sioux Falls market and the needs and preferences of internet consumers to inform Bluepeak’s communications and customer experience operations.

Bluepeak has been a favorite option of many individuals that work from home, in Sioux Falls and elsewhere. With Bluepeak fiber service, customers get faster speed, equal upload and download speeds, and whole-home WiFi. Bluepeak features all-in pricing, where the price on the website is the price on the bill, with a minimum service tier of 1 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) for just $50 per month for fiber service (options up to 1 Gbps available to homes and businesses on coax cable). Homes with access to fiber can get up to 5 Gbps and businesses 10 Gbps and beyond. Each internet speed package includes eero Secure, which protects devices from online threats, ads and allows for customized content filtering. Bluepeak’s network provides faster speeds, better connectivity and the bandwidth to connect more devices for internet, streaming, gaming and more.

Bluepeak recently announced it has completed more construction to expand its fiber internet network on the northeast side of Sioux Falls – south of All Saints around McKennan Park – where homes and businesses can now access Bluepeak’s fiber internet service. Residents and businesses in Sioux Falls interested in service availability or details on the construction process can sign up for updates by entering their service address at mybluepeak.com.

About Bluepeak
Bluepeak is building a faster, more reliable internet without the things that get in the way of great service — like red tape, hidden fees, and slow response times. Offering up to 5 gigabits of speed for residential customers and 10 gigabits for businesses, Bluepeak is a whole new ballgame — from internet to TV, to connecting every device in a home, to powering a business, Bluepeak not only provides the best fiber connections in the communities it serves, but also meets the growing needs for how its customers live. Visit mybluepeak.com to learn more.