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• By 2035, the ratios will rise dramatically in all of Dakotafire's counties--some with projected ratios of more than 100, which marks the point when there are more people depending on others for everyday needs than people working to provide for them. With more elderly or very young people dependent on others for the essentials and fewer people in the middle age groups to provide for those needs, a community can stagnate, struggling to both provide care for those who need it and maintain jobs and essential services for the working population.
• South Dakota already has the one of the oldest workforces in the nation, with a greater percentage of workers being 65 or older than in any other state.  With fewer young people staying in-state or returning after going to college or serving in the military, the jobs held by older workers may simply disappear as they retire without anyone to take their place.  McCurry said that emergency services like volunteer fire departments are particularly vulnerable, especially in small communities where many jobs are filled by people who live outside of town and many townsfolk commute to larger cities for work. 
• In communities where the local school has been closed to consolidate with another town's in addition to jobs moving to other larger cities, young people can become especially discouraged from returning.  For a community already struggling with a high dependency ratio, the further loss of young people would worsen it, making reversing the trend more difficult.  If a community wants to lower a high ratio, "keeping young people in the area is the main way for that to happen," McCurry said.

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