2025

Counties in South Dakota ranked by Native American Population

This list ranks the 64 counties in South Dakota based on their American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) 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 Native American population in South Dakota

View All
  • 1
    Pennington County
    Native American population in Pennington County is 13,921
    11.36% of Pennington County population is Native American
  • 2
    Todd County
    Native American population in Todd County is 8,098
    84.62% of Todd County population is Native American
  • 3
    Minnehaha County
    Native American population in Minnehaha County is 7,375
    3.43% of Minnehaha County population is Native American
  • 4
    Dewey County
    Native American population in Dewey County is 4,083
    75.23% of Dewey County population is Native American
  • 5
    Roberts County
    Native American population in Roberts County is 4,017
    37.73% of Roberts County population is Native American

List of 64 counties in South Dakota by Native American Population

View Methodology
Rank by Native American Population
County
Native American Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total South Dakota Native American Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Pennington County 13,921 11.36% 18.06%
2 Todd County 8,098 84.62% 10.51%
3 Minnehaha County 7,375 3.43% 9.57%
4 Dewey County 4,083 75.23% 5.30%
5 Roberts County 4,017 37.73% 5.21%
6 Charles Mix County 3,148 31.76% 4.08%
7 Corson County 2,678 67.58% 3.47%
8 2,660 6.63% 3.45%
9 2,611 13.95% 3.39%
10 1,995 57.61% 2.59%
11 1,782 62.24% 2.31%
12 1,735 70.79% 2.25%
13 1,543 40.85% 2.00%
14 1,419 4.34% 1.84%
15 1,378 63.27% 1.79%
16 1,157 5.59% 1.50%
17 1,115 4.49% 1.45%
18 1,074 1.50% 1.39%
19 1,062 3.84% 1.38%
20 1,037 17.89% 1.35%
21 979 14.27% 1.27%
22 953 3.18% 1.24%
23 909 5.77% 1.18%
24 903 15.34% 1.17%
25 870 2.39% 1.13%
26 752 13.61% 0.98%
27 687 9.05% 0.89%
28 647 11.28% 0.84%
29 612 8.38% 0.79%
30 596 5.28% 0.77%
31 535 2.58% 0.69%
32 471 5.08% 0.61%
33 407 3.59% 0.53%
34 401 8.60% 0.52%
35 392 9.27% 0.51%
36 384 2.15% 0.50%
37 258 3.32% 0.33%
38 200 2.55% 0.26%
39 185 5.76% 0.24%
40 169 2.87% 0.22%
41 154 14.64% 0.20%
41 154 8.82% 0.20%
42 131 1.44% 0.17%
43 129 2.37% 0.17%
44 122 3.91% 0.16%
45 115 1.78% 0.15%
46 103 7.02% 0.13%
47 94 2.56% 0.12%
48 89 7.60% 0.12%
49 87 3.42% 0.11%
50 86 4.37% 0.11%
51 81 2.00% 0.11%
52 73 2.52% 0.09%
53 60 2.21% 0.08%
54 59 2.52% 0.08%
55 55 1.23% 0.07%
56 54 1.75% 0.07%
57 53 2.12% 0.07%
58 40 1.82% 0.05%
59 39 1.66% 0.05%
60 32 0.49% 0.04%
61 30 1.95% 0.04%
61 30 0.72% 0.04%
62 17 1.13% 0.02%

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 American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines Native American 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 Native American, 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 Native American alone, while others identify as Native American along with another race (such as Native American and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Native American .
  • We’ve used the “Native American alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Native American population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Native American 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 Native American .
  2. % of Total South Dakota Native American Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Native American 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 Native American 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 Native American 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 Native American 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.