2025

Counties in South Dakota ranked by Non-Hispanic White Population

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

Top 5 counties with the largest Non-Hispanic White population in South Dakota

View All
  • 1
    Minnehaha County
    Non-Hispanic White population in Minnehaha County is 158,701
    73.71% of Minnehaha County population is Non-Hispanic White
  • 2
    Pennington County
    Non-Hispanic White population in Pennington County is 87,778
    71.61% of Pennington County population is Non-Hispanic White
  • 3
    Lincoln County
    Non-Hispanic White population in Lincoln County is 61,291
    85.62% of Lincoln County population is Non-Hispanic White
  • 4
    Brown County
    Non-Hispanic White population in Brown County is 32,309
    80.56% of Brown County population is Non-Hispanic White
  • 5
    Brookings County
    Non-Hispanic White population in Brookings County is 30,723
    84.38% of Brookings County population is Non-Hispanic White

List of 64 counties in South Dakota by Non-Hispanic White Population

View Methodology
-
Rank by Non-Hispanic White Population
County
Non-Hispanic White Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total South Dakota Non-Hispanic White Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Minnehaha County 158,701 73.71% 22.03%
2 Pennington County 87,778 71.61% 12.18%
3 Lincoln County 61,291 85.62% 8.51%
4 Brown County 32,309 80.56% 4.48%
5 Brookings County 30,723 84.38% 4.26%
6 Meade County 25,964 79.46% 3.60%
7 Codington County 25,959 86.73% 3.60%
8 23,741 85.78% 3.30%
9 20,417 82.26% 2.83%
10 17,696 85.47% 2.46%
11 15,057 84.27% 2.09%
12 14,308 76.44% 1.99%
13 13,277 64.08% 1.84%
14 13,077 83.08% 1.82%
15 9,915 87.43% 1.38%
16 9,276 82.20% 1.29%
17 8,220 90.49% 1.14%
18 7,811 84.28% 1.08%
19 6,789 87.45% 0.94%
20 6,739 85.76% 0.94%
21 6,075 83.17% 0.84%
22 6,059 79.84% 0.84%
23 5,929 90.84% 0.82%
24 5,922 59.75% 0.82%
25 5,816 54.62% 0.81%
26 5,771 89.31% 0.80%
27 5,348 90.89% 0.74%
28 4,851 89.04% 0.67%
29 4,770 69.51% 0.66%
30 4,579 79.86% 0.64%
31 4,523 76.84% 0.63%
32 4,293 77.69% 0.60%
33 4,179 72.11% 0.58%
34 4,052 90.41% 0.56%
35 3,802 91.70% 0.53%
36 3,671 78.74% 0.51%
37 3,557 87.65% 0.49%
38 3,462 81.88% 0.48%
39 3,233 88.00% 0.45%
40 2,875 92.03% 0.40%
41 2,838 91.90% 0.39%
42 2,710 84.37% 0.38%
43 2,620 90.34% 0.36%
44 2,310 84.96% 0.32%
45 2,207 88.39% 0.31%
46 2,196 86.39% 0.30%
47 2,174 92.55% 0.30%
48 2,168 92.53% 0.30%
49 2,133 56.47% 0.30%
50 2,037 92.59% 0.28%
51 1,590 80.83% 0.22%
52 1,508 86.32% 0.21%
53 1,370 90.73% 0.19%
54 1,358 88.41% 0.19%
55 1,191 34.39% 0.17%
56 1,162 29.32% 0.16%
57 1,132 77.16% 0.16%
58 1,056 19.46% 0.15%
59 1,023 35.73% 0.14%
60 954 81.47% 0.13%
61 854 81.18% 0.12%
62 755 7.89% 0.10%
63 653 26.64% 0.09%
64 645 29.61% 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 Non-Hispanic White population, using the most recent ACS data available.

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

How We Ranked the Data

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