2025

Counties in South Dakota ranked by White Population

This list ranks the 64 counties in South Dakota based on their White 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 White population in South Dakota

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  • 1
    Minnehaha County
    White population in Minnehaha County is 175,264
    81.40% of Minnehaha County population is White
  • 2
    Pennington County
    White population in Pennington County is 99,276
    80.98% of Pennington County population is White
  • 3
    Lincoln County
    White population in Lincoln County is 64,720
    90.41% of Lincoln County population is White
  • 4
    Brown County
    White population in Brown County is 34,414
    85.81% of Brown County population is White
  • 5
    Brookings County
    White population in Brookings County is 32,329
    88.79% of Brookings County population is White

List of 64 counties in South Dakota by White Population

View Methodology
Rank by White Population
County
White Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total South Dakota White Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Minnehaha County 175,264 81.40% 22.49%
2 Pennington County 99,276 80.98% 12.74%
3 Lincoln County 64,720 90.41% 8.30%
4 Brown County 34,414 85.81% 4.42%
5 Brookings County 32,329 88.79% 4.15%
6 Meade County 28,441 87.04% 3.65%
7 Codington County 27,184 90.82% 3.49%
8 25,188 91.01% 3.23%
9 22,150 89.24% 2.84%
10 18,566 89.67% 2.38%
11 16,127 90.26% 2.07%
12 15,356 82.03% 1.97%
13 14,996 72.38% 1.92%
14 13,695 87.00% 1.76%
15 10,447 92.13% 1.34%
16 10,130 89.77% 1.30%
17 8,561 94.24% 1.10%
18 8,435 91.01% 1.08%
19 7,224 91.93% 0.93%
20 7,031 90.57% 0.90%
21 6,505 65.63% 0.83%
22 6,454 85.04% 0.83%
23 6,340 86.80% 0.81%
24 6,232 58.53% 0.80%
25 6,187 94.79% 0.79%
26 5,995 92.77% 0.77%
27 5,590 95.00% 0.72%
28 5,288 77.06% 0.68%
29 5,146 94.46% 0.66%
30 4,880 85.11% 0.63%
31 4,785 81.29% 0.61%
32 4,714 81.35% 0.60%
33 4,554 82.41% 0.58%
34 4,251 94.85% 0.55%
35 3,982 85.41% 0.51%
36 3,941 95.06% 0.51%
37 3,724 91.77% 0.48%
38 3,711 87.77% 0.48%
39 3,441 93.66% 0.44%
40 2,954 94.56% 0.38%
41 2,913 90.69% 0.37%
42 2,896 93.78% 0.37%
43 2,706 93.31% 0.35%
44 2,500 91.95% 0.32%
45 2,346 93.95% 0.30%
46 2,308 90.79% 0.30%
47 2,234 95.10% 0.29%
48 2,220 94.75% 0.28%
49 2,195 58.11% 0.28%
50 2,131 96.86% 0.27%
51 1,759 89.43% 0.23%
52 1,547 88.55% 0.20%
53 1,443 93.95% 0.19%
54 1,399 92.65% 0.18%
55 1,331 38.43% 0.17%
56 1,297 88.41% 0.17%
57 1,264 31.90% 0.16%
58 1,242 22.89% 0.16%
59 1,060 37.02% 0.14%
60 1,047 89.41% 0.13%
61 970 10.14% 0.12%
62 876 83.27% 0.11%
63 749 34.39% 0.10%
64 685 27.95% 0.09%

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 White population, using the most recent ACS data available.

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

How We Ranked the Data

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