2025

Counties in South Dakota ranked by Multi-Racial Native American Population

This list ranks the 64 counties in South Dakota based on their Multi-Racial 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 13, 2025

Top 5 counties with the largest Multi-Racial Native American population in South Dakota

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  • 1
    Pennington County
    Multi-Racial Native American population in Pennington County is 6,016
    4.91% of Pennington County population is Multi-Racial Native American
  • 2
    Minnehaha County
    Multi-Racial Native American population in Minnehaha County is 3,455
    1.60% of Minnehaha County population is Multi-Racial Native American
  • 3
    Brown County
    Multi-Racial Native American population in Brown County is 917
    2.29% of Brown County population is Multi-Racial Native American
  • 4
    Lincoln County
    Multi-Racial Native American population in Lincoln County is 888
    1.24% of Lincoln County population is Multi-Racial Native American
  • 5
    Meade County
    Multi-Racial Native American population in Meade County is 883
    2.70% of Meade County population is Multi-Racial Native American

List of 64 counties in South Dakota by Multi-Racial Native American Population

View Methodology
Rank by Multi-Racial Native American Population
County
Multi-Racial Native American Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total South Dakota Multi-Racial Native American Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Pennington County 6,016 4.91% 28.10%
2 Minnehaha County 3,455 1.60% 16.14%
3 Brown County 917 2.29% 4.28%
4 Lincoln County 888 1.24% 4.15%
5 Meade County 883 2.70% 4.12%
6 Hughes County 583 3.11% 2.72%
7 Yankton County 566 2.28% 2.64%
8 533 5.38% 2.49%
9 483 8.33% 2.26%
10 449 1.62% 2.10%
11 420 1.15% 1.96%
12 403 1.35% 1.88%
13 363 3.22% 1.70%
14 314 1.52% 1.47%
15 312 3.37% 1.46%
16 304 1.93% 1.42%
17 292 2.74% 1.36%
18 291 1.40% 1.36%
19 208 3.03% 0.97%
20 207 3.52% 0.97%
21 194 2.03% 0.91%
22 189 1.06% 0.88%
23 168 3.97% 0.78%
24 167 3.02% 0.78%
25 163 3.00% 0.76%
26 153 2.02% 0.71%
27 146 2.00% 0.68%
28 142 1.25% 0.66%
29 140 1.78% 0.65%
30 127 2.21% 0.59%
31 118 2.53% 0.55%
32 110 5.05% 0.51%
33 109 3.39% 0.51%
34 102 1.31% 0.48%
35 97 2.45% 0.45%
36 95 6.48% 0.44%
37 94 2.56% 0.44%
38 90 1.65% 0.42%
39 89 1.51% 0.42%
40 87 1.35% 0.41%
41 75 6.40% 0.35%
42 73 3.71% 0.34%
43 65 0.72% 0.30%
43 65 1.88% 0.30%
44 62 2.44% 0.29%
45 58 1.43% 0.27%
46 53 2.12% 0.25%
47 46 1.47% 0.21%
47 46 1.22% 0.21%
47 46 1.69% 0.21%
48 39 0.87% 0.18%
49 37 1.28% 0.17%
50 36 1.64% 0.17%
50 36 1.53% 0.17%
51 34 1.39% 0.16%
52 31 1.77% 0.14%
53 24 1.56% 0.11%
54 22 0.71% 0.10%
55 21 0.73% 0.10%
56 18 0.77% 0.08%
57 17 1.13% 0.08%
58 14 0.21% 0.07%
59 11 0.27% 0.05%
59 11 1.05% 0.05%

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

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

How We Ranked the Data

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