Lake County, South Dakota

• White (non-Hispanic) 9,748 88.8%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 577 5.3%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 80 0.7%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 81 0.7%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 169 1.5%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 270 2.5%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 19 0.2%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 28 0.3%

• Under 18 2,146 19.6%
• 18–24 1,139 10.4%
• 25–44 2,383 21.7%
• 45–64 2,638 24.0%
• 65 and over 2,666 24.3%

Median household income

$80,099

90% interval $70,873–$89,325

+$2,605 vs SD · 13th of 66

Below poverty line

8.8%

90% interval 6.6%–11.0%

−1.7 pp vs SD · 52nd of 66

Unemployment (12-mo)

1.8%

−0.33 pp vs. state

County GDP

$934.4M

1.22% of state

Avg. annual pay

$59,153

Establishments

505

• Manufacturing 956 18.6%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 906 17.6%
• Education & health services 626 12.2%
• Leisure & hospitality 580 11.3%
• Professional & business services 279 5.4%
• Construction 229 4.5%
• Financial activities 219 4.3%
• Natural resources & mining 202 3.9%
• Other services 88 1.7%
• Public administration 41 0.8%
• Information 41 0.8%

The sectors listed cover 81.0% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

73.8%

+5.2 pp vs SD · 33rd of 66

Median gross rent

$947

+$1 vs SD · 12th of 66

Owner-occupied

3,482

Renter-occupied

1,234

• Diversified

  Top three sectors employ 48% of the workforce, a relatively diversified local economy. Expect mixed employer backgrounds on the panel rather than concentration in any one institution or industry.

• Wide wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Financial activities, $95,389/yr) pays 5.5× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $17,237/yr). Stark intra-economy class divisions on the panel; calibrate damages and lost-wages framing to that range.

• Mixed business scale

  Average establishment employs 10 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

• Republican 3,819 64.7%
• Democratic 1,978 33.5%
• Other / third-party 109 1.8%

• Spanish 318 3.0%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 77 0.7%
• German or other West Germanic 57 0.5%
• Tagalog 43 0.4%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 9 0.1%

Households

4,716

Family households

2,874

60.9% of households

Married couples w/ children

634

22.1% of families

Single-mother families

172

6.0% of families

Veterans

682

7.8% of civilians 18+

• Mainline Protestant 3,482 31.5%
• Catholic 1,519 13.7%
• Evangelical Protestant 1,392 12.6%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 233 2.1%

Health insured

96.0%

±1 pp

Uninsured

4.0%

±1 pp

61st of 66

With a disability

15.1%

±1.9 pp

13th of 66

Bachelor's or higher

34.6%

±4 pp

+2.7 pp vs SD · 8th of 66

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

9.6%

90% interval 8.5%–10.7% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

3rd Judicial Circuit Court

Judges

7 (Circuit Court judges per circuit (general civil + felony criminal trial jurisdiction); vintage 2026 ujs.sd.gov directory + SDCL § 16-5-1. SD has 46 Circuit Court judges statewide (2025 UJS Guide to South Dakota Courts); the per-circuit figures shown are approximate (judges may sit by assignment across circuits). Magistrate Court judges (limited jurisdiction: misdemeanors, small claims) are separately allocated and not counted here.)

Court seats

Brookings, Clark, Clear Lake, De Smet, Flandreau, Hayti, Howard, Huron, Madison, Milbank, Miller, Watertown, Wessington Springs, Woonsocket

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

0

0 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

0