A significant part of Whiteclay's economy was based on alcohol sales to residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, located north across the border in South Dakota, where alcohol consumption and possession is prohibited. According to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, beer sales at Whiteclay's four liquor stores totalled 4.9 million cans in 2010 (~13,000 cans per day) for gross sales of $3 million. The four beer merchants paid federal and state excise taxes (included in liquor's sale price) of $413,932 that year. In 2017 the four liquor stores lost their licenses, and the town has ceased to be the main supplier of alcohol to the reservation.