2025

Counties in South Dakota ranked by Asian Population

This list ranks the 64 counties in South Dakota based on their Asian population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in these counties over the past five years.
Updated Feb 10, 2025

Top 5 counties with the largest Asian population in South Dakota

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  • 1
    Minnehaha County
    Asian population in Minnehaha County is 5,550
    2.58% of Minnehaha County population is Asian
  • 2
    Pennington County
    Asian population in Pennington County is 2,283
    1.86% of Pennington County population is Asian
  • 3
    Beadle County
    Asian population in Beadle County is 1,985
    9.58% of Beadle County population is Asian
  • 4
    Lincoln County
    Asian population in Lincoln County is 1,461
    2.04% of Lincoln County population is Asian
  • 5
    Brown County
    Asian population in Brown County is 1,408
    3.51% of Brown County population is Asian

List of 64 counties in South Dakota by Asian Population

View Methodology
Rank by Asian Population
County
Asian Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total South Dakota Asian Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Minnehaha County 5,550 2.58% 29.84%
2 Pennington County 2,283 1.86% 12.28%
3 Beadle County 1,985 9.58% 10.67%
4 Lincoln County 1,461 2.04% 7.86%
5 Brown County 1,408 3.51% 7.57%
6 Brookings County 1,294 3.55% 6.96%
7 Meade County 713 2.18% 3.83%
8 501 3.18% 2.69%
9 473 1.71% 2.54%
10 452 1.51% 2.43%
11 424 4.43% 2.28%
12 318 1.78% 1.71%
13 192 1.03% 1.03%
14 148 2.16% 0.80%
15 119 0.57% 0.64%
16 101 0.41% 0.54%
17 91 0.92% 0.49%
18 88 0.78% 0.47%
19 74 0.95% 0.40%
20 65 0.57% 0.35%
21 60 0.79% 0.32%
22 54 0.58% 0.29%
22 54 1.56% 0.29%
23 52 0.88% 0.28%
24 47 0.52% 0.25%
24 47 0.44% 0.25%
25 45 0.57% 0.24%
26 43 2.93% 0.23%
27 38 1.18% 0.20%
28 35 0.83% 0.19%
29 34 0.62% 0.18%
30 30 0.67% 0.16%
31 28 0.69% 0.15%
32 25 0.80% 0.13%
33 23 0.40% 0.12%
34 22 0.34% 0.12%
34 22 0.87% 0.12%
35 21 0.38% 0.11%
36 20 0.34% 0.11%
37 19 0.41% 0.10%
38 18 0.43% 0.10%
39 16 0.52% 0.09%
40 13 0.45% 0.07%
40 13 0.18% 0.07%
40 13 0.48% 0.07%
41 12 0.32% 0.06%
42 11 0.51% 0.06%
43 9 0.59% 0.05%
44 8 0.22% 0.04%
45 6 0.10% 0.03%
45 6 0.31% 0.03%
46 4 0.17% 0.02%
46 4 0.17% 0.02%
47 3 0.06% 0.02%
48 2 0.03% 0.01%

List of counties with no Asian Population in South Dakota

According to data from the United States Census Bureau, the following counties in South Dakota have no recorded Asian population*:
  • Sully County
  • Sanborn County
  • Jackson County
  • Harding County
  • Faulk County
  • Jones County
  • Ziebach County
  • Corson County
  • Haakon County
* These counties were not included in the ranking above, as they do not meet the population criteria. It is possible that a small population exists but was not reported or captured due to limitations or variations in Census data collection and reporting.

Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks counties in South Dakota by their Asian population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines Asian Population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their race, meaning individuals can choose one or more racial categories when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as Asian, whether alone or in combination with another race.
Here are a few important things to know about how race is reported:
  • Some people identify as Asian alone, while others identify as Asian along with another race (such as Asian and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Asian .
  • We’ve used the “Asian alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Asian population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Asian alone or in combination in counties. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total County Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Asian .
  2. % of Total South Dakota Asian Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Asian population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Asian populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • Counties that don’t have any reported Asian population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Asian populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.