United States
South Dakota
0.9 million residents
- European
- 77.9%
- Native American
- 8%
- Hispanic
- 6.1%
- African
- 2.4%
- Other
- 5.6%
- Foreign-born
- 4%
- Catholic
- 16%
- Protestant
- 61%
- Orthodox
- 1%
- Non-Hispanic White median age
- 42.6 yrs
- Median age (all)
- 38.4 yrs
- Fishback benchmark
- 35%
- Price level (US = 100)
- 88.6 (−11.4%)
- Median home value
- $257,400
Counties
Demographics, the 2024 election, religion, cost of living, and certified work visas across all 66 South Dakota counties. Switch views above the map, hover a county to preview its figures, click to open its page — or browse the full list below.
European vs. Non-European by county in South Dakota, 2025
Each county is colored by its larger side, as a share of population; deeper means a wider lead.
2024 presidential election by county in South Dakota
Popular-vote margin between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris; deeper means a wider win.
Share of all votes cast for president in each county in the 2024 general election; third-party votes make up the remainder. Margins of 60points or more take the deepest shade. Connecticut is shown by its nine planning regions and DC's wards are combined. Alaska reports results by state house district rather than borough, so the whole state is shaded by its statewide result.
Largest religious tradition by county in South Dakota, 2020
Each county is colored by the tradition with the most adherents; deeper means a larger share of residents.
Adherents of each tradition as a share of the county's population, from the decennial church membership studies (1990: Glenmary Research Center; 2000–2020: ASARB, the U.S. Religion Census), each covering a few hundred religious bodies. Denominations are grouped into traditions following the ASARB and Pew families; non-denominational churches count as Evangelical Protestant, and Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarian Universalists, Hindus, Buddhists, Baha'is, and other faiths as Other religions. Unclaimed residents are those not counted as adherents of any participating group — not the same as atheist or agnostic, as it includes believers who belong to no congregation and members of groups that didn't take part. Each county is colored by its largest tradition; add Unclaimed back to color it Unclaimed where more residents belong to no congregation. Adherents are counted where their congregation meets, so a county whose churches draw from its neighbors can exceed 100%. Coverage changes between studies, so compare years with care: historically Black denominations are absent from 2000 and incomplete in other years (1990 has a single Black Baptists estimate), so Black Protestant figures are undercounts; Muslims are first estimated in 2000. Leading shares of 60% or more take the deepest shade. The 1990 study folds Virginia's independent cities into their counties, Alaska boroughs created after a study show no data for it, and Loving County, TX and Alpine County, CA reported no congregations in some years.
Home price to income by county in South Dakota
Median home value as a multiple of median household income; deeper orange means homes are harder to afford.
American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year medians, the only ACS figures published for every county. Home price to income divides median owner-occupied home value by median household income; rent to income is twelve months of median gross rent over the same income. Connecticut is shown by its nine planning regions. Valdez-Cordova, Alaska, split in 2019 and its medians can't be recombined, so it shows no data, as do a few counties where the Census suppresses a figure.
H-1B positions by county in South Dakota
Certified positions in FY 2025, at the county of the first worksite. The color follows the log of the count, so counties across the range stay visible.
Fiscal year 2025, from the Labor Department’s case files. H-1B counts positions on certified Labor Condition Applications. H-2A and H-2B count workers DOL certified, including partial certifications. An application that lists several worksites is counted in the first county. A certified slot is permission for an employer to petition. It is not a visa stamp and not a person admitted. Hover a county for all three counts. Where the filing left the county blank, the worksite ZIP is assigned to the county it overlaps most.
Compared with the United States
South Dakota next to the national figures used elsewhere on this site.
| Metric | South Dakota | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Hispanic White | 78.1% | 58% |
| Catholic | 16% | 19% |
| Protestant | 61% | 40% |
| Orthodox | 1% | 1% |
| Non-Hispanic White median age | 42.6 yrs | 44.2 yrs |
Cost of living
Prices, incomes, and housing costs in South Dakota next to the national figures.
| Metric | South Dakota | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Price level (US = 100) | 88.6 (−11.4%) | 100.0 (+0.0%) |
| Housing price level (US = 100) | 67.6 (−32.4%) | 100.0 (+0.0%) |
| Median household income | $75,081 | $80,734 |
| Median home value | $257,400 | $332,700 |
| Home price to income | 3.4× | 4.1× |
| Median gross rent | $946/mo | $1,413/mo |
| Rent to income | 15.1% | 21.0% |
Population by ethnic group
Share of the population from 1960 to 2025, from the Census Bureau. Groups under 3% today are combined into Other on the chart; the table lists every group.
| Year | European | Hispanic | African | Indian | East Asian | Arab | Native American | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 96% | 0% | 0.2% | — | — | — | 3.8% | 0% |
| 1970 | 94.6% | 0.4% | 0.2% | — | — | — | 4.9% | 0% |
| 1980 | 92.3% | 0.6% | 0.3% | — | — | — | 6.5% | 0.3% |
| 1990 | 91.2% | 0.8% | 0.5% | — | — | — | 7.3% | 0.2% |
| 2000 | 88% | 1.4% | 0.6% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 8.1% | 1.4% |
| 2010 | 84.6% | 2.7% | 1.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 8.5% | 2.3% |
| 2020 | 80.1% | 4.4% | 2% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 8.4% | 4.2% |
| 2025 | 77.9% | 6.1% | 2.4% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 8% | 4.9% |
Political leanings over time
Presidential popular vote in South Dakota, Democratic vs. Republican, 1960 to 2024.