South Dakota population, Native American share and births

What percent of South Dakota is Native American?

The Census Bureau's estimates for July 1, 2025 put the American Indian and Alaska Native share of South Dakota at 9.0%, counting people who reported that race and no other. Only Alaska (15.6%), New Mexico (11.6%) and Oklahoma (9.4%) have higher shares. South Dakota's figure is 6.9 percentage points above the US figure (2.1%) and higher than every bordering state (Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming). It was unchanged from 9.0% in 2020⁹, so the Native share has kept pace with a growing state.

Alaska15.6%

New Mexico11.6%

Oklahoma9.4%

South Dakota9.0%

Montana6.4%

Arizona5.6%

North Dakota5.4%

California4.3%

United States2.1%

Source: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025. Period: July 1, 2025.

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State	American Indian and Alaska Native alone
Alaska	15.6%
New Mexico	11.6%
Oklahoma	9.4%
South Dakota	9.0%
Montana	6.4%
Arizona	5.6%
North Dakota	5.4%
California	4.3%
United States	2.1%

How race is counted moves the answer by a few points. The 2025 American Community Survey found 11.4% (±0.4 percentage points) of residents reporting American Indian or Alaska Native alone or together with another race, 8.2 percentage points above the US figure (3.2%)¹⁰. Excluding Hispanic residents, the single-race share was 7.9% (±0.5 percentage points), up from 7.2% in 2024². Over two decades of survey data that share has moved up and down without a clear trend: the 2025 value is not statistically different from 8.3% in 2005¹¹.

Oglala, Rosebud, Cheyenne River: the Sioux tribes counted in 2020

The 2020 Census asked people who reported an American Indian race to write in their tribe. In South Dakota, 69,790 people reported American Indian as their only race, 3.2% of everyone in the country who did so. Counting people who reported a tribe alone or with other groups, the largest was the Oglala Sioux Tribe with 21,398, followed by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota with 13,329¹².

Nearly all of the largest entries are Sioux nations, and most are named after a reservation in the state: Cheyenne River (8,720), Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of Lake Traverse (4,540), Yankton (4,323), Crow Creek (2,282) and Lower Brule (2,054). The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, whose name covers North and South Dakota, counted 3,739 people in South Dakota. Another 9,790¹² people wrote in the general answer "Sioux" without naming a tribe; the Census Bureau keeps that as a separate category. The counts overlap, because one person can report more than one tribe, so they cannot be added up.

White, Hispanic, Black and Asian South Dakotans

Non-Hispanic white residents made up 78.0% of the population on July 1, 2025, down from 80.3% in 2020, and the 10th highest share of any state. Every other group is small, but most are growing. The Hispanic or Latino share rose to 6.1%, up from 4.4% in 2020. Black residents (alone, any ethnicity) were 2.6%, up from 2.2% in 2020, and Asian residents 1.9%, up from 1.6% in 2020⁹.

Single group (adds to 100%)Alone or in combination with other races

White, not Hispanic77.7% 85.4%

American Indian and Alaska Native, not Hispanic7.9% 11.4%

Hispanic or Latino (any race)5.4%

Two or more races, not Hispanic5.3%

Black, not Hispanic2.0% 3.5%

Asian, not Hispanic1.4% 2.5%

Some other race, not Hispanic0.2%

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, not Hispanic0.1% 0.7%

Source: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, 2025, table B03002; Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, 2025, table B02009. The dark bars are mutually exclusive and add to 100%. The light bars count everyone who reported the race, alone or with another race and of any ethnicity, so they overlap and add to more than 100%.

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Group	Share (single group)	MOE	Alone or in combination
White, not Hispanic	77.7%	±0.3	85.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native, not Hispanic	7.9%	±0.5	11.4%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	5.4%	±0.2	–
Two or more races, not Hispanic	5.3%	±0.6	–
Black, not Hispanic	2.0%	±0.3	3.5%
Asian, not Hispanic	1.4%	±0.2	2.5%
Some other race, not Hispanic	0.2%	±0.1	–
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, not Hispanic	0.1%	±0.2	0.7%

Among Hispanic residents, Mexican origin is the largest group at 2.6% of the state's population, lower than every bordering state (Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming)¹⁴. The largest Asian groups in the 2020–2024 survey were Filipino (2,405 people), Burmese (2,297) and Asian Indian (1,915¹⁵). On the Census Bureau's diversity index, the chance that two residents picked at random differ by race or ethnicity, South Dakota scores 38.4, the 10th least diverse state, more diverse than Iowa, Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming; less diverse than Minnesota and Nebraska¹⁶.

From the 1930 count to a record in 2025

South Dakota first appears in the census in 1860, with 4,837 people counted in the area of the present state. The count then rose quickly: 348,600 people by 1890 and 692,849 by 1930. The 1940 Census found fewer, 642,961, and the state did not pass its 1930 total until the 1990 Census counted 696,004¹⁷.

Source: Census Bureau, Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals by Race, 1790 to 1990; Census Bureau, 2020 Census apportionment results and historical resident population 1910-2020; Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025. Census counts every ten years (April 1); estimates for July 1 after 2020.

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Year	South Dakota
1860	4,837
1870	11,776
1880	98,268
1890	348,600
1900	401,570
1910	583,888
1920	636,547
1930	692,849
1940	642,961
1950	652,740
1960	680,514
1970	665,507
1980	690,768
1990	696,004
2000	754,844
2010	814,180
2020	886,667
2021	896,303
2022	909,156
2023	917,739
2024	927,110
2025	935,094

Growth has been steady since. The count reached 754,844 in 2000, 814,180 in 2010 and 886,667⁶ in 2020, and each July 1 estimate since 2000 has been higher than the one before. The July 2025 figure, 935,094, is 1.4 times the 1950 count. South Dakota holds 0.27%¹ of the US population and 1 seat in the House of Representatives; with 887,770 residents per seat at the 2020 apportionment, its single district is the 4th highest¹⁸ in the country by population.

Faster growth than any neighbor in 2025

The population grew by 0.86% in the year to July 2025, 0.3 percentage points above the US figure (0.52%) and higher than every bordering state (Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming). Since the 2020 Census base the gain is 5.46%, the 13th highest rate, higher than Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming; lower than Montana¹.

Births+11,299

Deaths−8,694

Net domestic migration+2,169

Net international migration+3,183

Residual (estimation adjustment)+27

Total change+7,984

Source: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025. Each bar starts where the previous one ended. The residual is the part of the change the Census Bureau cannot assign to a component.

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Component	People
Births	11,299
Deaths	−8,694
Net domestic migration	2,169
Net international migration	3,183
Residual (estimation adjustment)	27
Total change	7,984

The growth draws on three sources in similar amounts. In the year to June 2025, births exceeded deaths by 2,605, net migration from abroad added 3,183 and net moves from other states added 2,169. The domestic gain has narrowed: it was 8,168 in the year to June 2022 and 2,169¹ in 2025.

Few people move in or out in absolute terms. The Census Bureau's survey of movers counted 22,709 (±3,248) arrivals from other states in 2024, the lowest number of any state, and 29,476¹⁹ departures. Tax returns filed in 2022 and 2023 show a net gain of 2,412 filers and dependents, who brought $256 million²⁰ more income than departing households took away. 61.1% of residents were born in South Dakota, 4.7 percentage points above the US figure (56.4%); of those born in another state, most were born elsewhere in the Midwest (20.5%²¹ of all residents).

The highest fertility rate in the US

South Dakota women had a total fertility rate of 2.04 births per woman in 2024, the highest in the nation. The total fertility rate is the number of children a woman would have if she experienced that year's birth rates at every age. South Dakota's rate is 28% above the US figure (1.60), ahead of Nebraska (1.92) and Idaho (1.82), and higher than every bordering state (Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming)²².

South Dakota66.7

Nebraska62.9

Alaska60.8

North Dakota60.4

Kentucky60.3

Utah59.9

Texas59.3

Indiana59.1

Arkansas58.8

Iowa58.8

United States53.8

Source: CDC National Center for Health Statistics, Births. Period: 2024.

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State	Fertility rate (per 1,000 women 15-44)
South Dakota	66.7
Nebraska	62.9
Alaska	60.8
North Dakota	60.4
Kentucky	60.3
Utah	59.9
Texas	59.3
Indiana	59.1
Arkansas	58.8
Iowa	58.8
United States	53.8

The general fertility rate, which relates births to the number of women of childbearing age, tells the same story: 66.7 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, the highest in the nation and 24% above the US figure (53.8 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44). The difference is largest for women in their late twenties, whose birth rate was 136.3 per 1,000 women aged 25 to 29, 52% above the US figure (89.5 per 1,000 women aged 25 to 29). For women in their early thirties it was 122.5 per 1,000 women aged 30 to 34, 31% above the US figure (93.7 per 1,000 women aged 30 to 34). The teen birth rate, 15.3 per 1,000 females aged 15 to 19, is 21% above the US figure (12.6 per 1,000 females aged 15 to 19)²².

More dependents per working-age adult than any state

Many births and an ordinary share of older people add up to an unusual age structure. Children under 18 were 23.5% of the population on July 1, 2025, the 4th highest share, and children under 5 were 6.1%. Residents aged 65 and older were 19.4%, 0.5 percentage points above the US figure (18.9%). That leaves 57.1% of South Dakotans in the working ages from 18 to 64: the lowest in the nation⁹.

MenWomenUnited States

MenWomen

85+

80–84

75–79

70–74

65–69

60–64

55–59

50–54

45–49

40–44

35–39

30–34

25–29

20–24

15–19

10–14

5–9

0–4

Source: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025. Share of the total population in each age group. Vertical ticks: the United States.

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Age	Men (%)	Women (%)	US men (%)	US women (%)
0-4	3.14	2.96	2.76	2.65
5-9	3.31	3.25	2.96	2.83
10-14	3.47	3.29	3.08	2.95
15-19	3.60	3.36	3.31	3.16
20-24	3.56	3.26	3.43	3.28
25-29	3.37	3.00	3.46	3.37
30-34	3.17	3.00	3.41	3.38
35-39	3.26	3.08	3.38	3.40
40-44	3.25	3.08	3.21	3.27
45-49	2.90	2.77	2.93	3.03
50-54	2.58	2.50	2.83	2.96
55-59	2.65	2.59	2.86	3.02
60-64	3.10	3.15	2.96	3.21
65-69	3.06	3.13	2.75	3.08
70-74	2.53	2.62	2.26	2.64
75-79	1.73	1.86	1.71	2.08
80-84	0.95	1.22	1.00	1.32
85+	0.81	1.44	0.78	1.28

The total dependency ratio, the number of children and people 65 and older for every 100 people of working age, was 75.2, the highest in the nation and 13% above the US figure (66.6). Delaware is next at 74.2⁹. The median age of 38.5 years (±0.4 years) is 1.0 years below the US figure (39.5 years)³.

The share of children has fallen since 2020 (down from 24.6% in 2020) while the share aged 65 and older rose (up from 17.7% in 2020⁹). Even so, the share of older residents is close to the national figure; the ratio is high mainly because of the number of children.

The lowest unemployment, and short commutes

South Dakota's unemployment rate averaged 2.1% in 2025, the lowest in the nation and lower than every bordering state (Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming). The latest monthly figure, for September 2026, was 2.0%, still the lowest in the nation. The labor force participation rate, the share of people 16 and older working or looking for work, was 68.2%, 5.8 percentage points above the US figure (62.4%) and the 5th highest²³ of any state.

Wyoming3.4%

Montana3.3%

New Hampshire3.2%

Wisconsin3.2%

Nebraska3.0%

Alabama2.9%

Vermont2.7%

North Dakota2.6%

Hawaii2.4%

South Dakota2.1%

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics. Period: 2025 (11-month avg, Oct 2025 missing).

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State	Unemployment rate
Wyoming	3.4%
Montana	3.3%
New Hampshire	3.2%
Wisconsin	3.2%
Nebraska	3.0%
Alabama	2.9%
Vermont	2.7%
North Dakota	2.6%
Hawaii	2.4%
South Dakota	2.1%

Workers also spend less time getting to work than in almost any other state. The average one-way commute was 17.8 minutes (±0.7 minutes) in 2025, 9.6 minutes below the US figure (27.4 minutes). That is the shortest estimate of any state, but North Dakota is close behind at 18.1 minutes: allowing for the survey's margins of error, South Dakota ranks between 50th and 51st²⁴ of 51 counting from the longest. Only 0.2%²⁵ of workers take public transportation.

The short trips match a thinly settled state. South Dakota has 12.3 people per square mile, the 5th least densely populated²⁶ state, and 42.8% of residents lived in rural areas at the 2020 Census, 22.8 percentage points above the US figure (20.0%)²⁷.

Incomes near the US level, prices well below it

The median household income was $80,506 in 2025 (±$1,946), $4,274 (5%) below the US figure ($84,780) and not statistically different from $78,904 in 2024 (in 2025 dollars)⁴. Prices change the picture. The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts South Dakota's price level at 88.6 for 2024 (US = 100), 11% below the US figure (100.0), with housing at 67.6 and other services at 91.9, the 2nd least expensive level in the country. Adjusted for those prices, personal income per person was $69,153 in 2024, the 5th highest of any state and $9,958 (17%) above the US figure ($59,195)²⁸.

Incomes are also less spread out than in most states. The Gini index, a measure in which higher values mean more unequal incomes, was 0.447, the 7th least unequal³¹ state. 8.9% of households had incomes of $200,000 or more, 5.9 percentage points below the US figure (14.8%)³². Median rent was $1,089 (±$33), $468 (30%) below the US figure ($1,557)²⁹.

Child poverty rose in 2025

The official poverty rate was 11.8% (±0.9 percentage points) in 2025, up from 10.4% in 2024 and now not statistically different from the US figure (11.8%). The change was larger for children: 15.1% (±1.7 percentage points) of children lived in poverty, up from 11.2% in 2024. That share is not statistically different from the US figure (14.8%), but it is higher than every bordering state (Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming)⁵.

The Supplemental Poverty Measure, which accounts for local prices, taxes and benefits, gives a lower figure. Averaged over 2023 to 2025 it was 8.0% (±1.1 percentage points), 5.0 percentage points below the US figure (13.0%) and tied for 5th lowest³³ among the states. Fewer residents receive food assistance than in most states: 8.0% took part in SNAP in fiscal 2025, 4.3 percentage points below the US figure (12.3%)³⁴. Among households below the poverty line, though, 52.7% received SNAP benefits, 10.7 percentage points above the US figure (42.0%)³⁵.

Lutheran and Catholic South Dakota

South Dakota has more congregations per resident than almost any state, 21.9 per 10,000 residents in the 2020 U.S. Religion Census, the 4th highest figure. Its congregations counted 55.4% of residents, higher than every bordering state (Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming), and Christian congregations 55.2%, the 7th highest³⁶ share.

The Catholic Church is the largest body (15.0%), followed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (11.0%). Mainline Protestant churches together counted 17.9%, the 2nd highest³⁶ share after North Dakota. The figures are lists kept by congregations, which may count members who rarely attend and miss people who belong nowhere (religion overview).

Health: infant deaths above every neighbor

Life expectancy at birth was 77.3 years in 2022, 0.2 years below the US figure (77.5 years): 75.2 years for men and 79.5 years³⁷ for women. The infant mortality rate stands out. In 2024 there were 7.3 per 1,000 live births, 33% above the US figure (5.5 per 1,000 live births), the 7th highest rate and higher than every bordering state (Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming)³⁸.

8.6% of residents had no health insurance in 2025, not statistically different from the US figure (8.4%), but among children the share was 9.2% (±1.6 percentage points), 3.1 percentage points above the US figure (6.1%)³⁹. The age-adjusted drug overdose death rate in 2024, 11.9 per 100,000, age-adjusted, was 48% below the US figure (23.1 per 100,000, age-adjusted)³⁸. Medicaid and CHIP enrolled 140,026 people in June 2026, 15.0% of the population, 6.5 percentage points below the US figure (21.5%)⁴¹.

Associate degrees and high school diplomas

93.7% of adults aged 25 and older had finished high school in 2025, 3.1 percentage points above the US figure (90.6%). The associate degree is unusually common: 13.2% (±0.8 percentage points) of adults hold one as their highest degree, 4.3 percentage points above the US figure (8.9%), which puts the state between 1st and 3rd once margins of error are considered. The bachelor's degree share is lower: 33.0% held a bachelor's or higher, 4.4 percentage points below the US figure (37.4%), and 10.8%⁴² a graduate degree. The four-year high school graduation rate for the 2021–22 school year was 82%, 5.0 percentage points below the US figure (87%)⁴³.

German and Norwegian roots, few immigrants

German is the most common ancestry: 33.1% of residents reported it in 2020–2024, the 3rd highest share of any state. Norwegian ancestry, at 10.4%, is also the 3rd highest⁴⁴. German is still spoken at home by 6,258 people aged 5 and older, 0.74% of that population and the highest⁴⁵ share in the country.

Only 3.8% of residents were born abroad in 2025 (±0.4 percentage points), the 5th lowest share of any state and 10.9 percentage points below the US figure (14.7%). Their origins differ from the national mix: 18.1% of immigrants were born in Africa, 12.2 percentage points above the US figure (5.9%), and 38.3% in Latin America, 12.0 percentage points below the US figure (50.3%)²¹. 6.8% of residents aged 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, 16.1 percentage points below the US figure (22.9%)⁴⁶.

Households, grandparents and veterans

South Dakota had 387,580 households in 2025, with an average of 2.33 people, 6% below the US figure (2.49)⁴⁸. 31.0% of households are one person living alone, and 47.8% are married couples, not statistically different from the US figure (46.6%)⁴⁷.

Where grandparents live with their grandchildren, they are more often the ones raising them. In 2025, 64.4% (±11.4 percentage points) of such grandparents were responsible for the children's basic needs, 34.4 percentage points above the US figure (30.0%). The margin of error is wide, and the state's rank is between 1st and 2nd⁴⁹.

Veterans are 7.8% (±0.5 percentage points) of civilian adults, 1.9 percentage points above the US figure (5.9%) (tied for 6th highest among the states), or 55,558⁵⁰ people. The January 2025 count of people experiencing homelessness found 1,450, 8.4% more than a year earlier. That is a small number, but per resident (15.6 per 10,000 residents) it is the 18th highest rate. Of those counted, 25.0% were unsheltered, 10.7 percentage points below the US figure (35.7%)⁵¹.