What is the poverty rate in South Dakota?
Updated monthly
About 10.4% of South Dakota’s population in 2024. The poverty rate is the percentage of people whose household income falls below the poverty threshold set by the government. It measures the percentage of people in households that don’t earn enough to pay for basic needs like food, housing, and healthcare. In 2024, 93,272 people in South Dakota were considered in poverty.
10.4%
of the population (2024)
93.3K
people living under the poverty line (2024)
The state's poverty rate was 10.4% in 2024, the lowest based on data from the American Community Survey dating back to 2010. It was 1.3 percentage points lower than the previous year. South Dakota's poverty rate hit a peak in 2010 of 14.4%.
In 2024, 10.4% of South Dakota population were living under the poverty line.
Poverty rate
While the poverty rate shows the overall trend, the total number matters because many aid programs and funding decisions are based on how many people are in poverty, not just the percentage. In 2024, 93,272 people living in South Dakota were in poverty — down 20.2% from the 2014 peak of 116,843.
In 2024, 93,300 people in South Dakota were in poverty.
People living under poverty line
Poverty doesn’t affect all groups equally. Rates vary widely by demographic group, family type and location.
From 2014 to 2024, the poverty rate for children under 18 in South Dakota decreased from 18% to 11.2%. During the same period, the poverty rate for adults under 65 years decreased from 13.5% to 10.3%. For those older than 65, the poverty rate decreased from 10.6% to 9.7%.
In 2024, 11.2% of children in South Dakota were living under the poverty line.
Poverty rate by age group
Among racial or ethnic groups in South Dakota during 2024, five had a higher poverty rate than the state’s overall rate: American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race), some other race, and two or more races.
Three had a lower than average poverty rate: Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, White alone, not Hispanic or Latino.
Over the previous ten years, the poverty rate for the two or more races population shifted the most, decreasing from 25.8% in 2014 to 11.6% in 2024.
In South Dakota, the poverty rate for the two or more races population decreased from 25.8% in 2014 to 11.6% in 2024.
Poverty rate by race or ethnicity
In 2019-2023, the poverty rate among South Dakota counties ranged from 2.1% in Stanley County to 52.8% in Oglala Lakota County. The poverty rate in the state’s largest county — Minnehaha County — was 8.8%.
In 2019-2023, the poverty rate among South Dakota counties ranged from 2.1% to 52.8%.
Poverty rate
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Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.
Page sources
USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.
