Jury Pool Profile

Meade County, South Dakota

Republican +51 (2024)

Population: 30,297
Median household income: $74,161
Unemployment: 2.0%

Who sits on a jury?

Race & ethnicity

White alone 26,487 87.4%
Black or African American alone 594 2.0%
Asian alone 237 0.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native alone 536 1.8%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander alone 44 0.1%
Some other race alone 256 0.8%
Two or more races 2,143 7.1%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1,418 4.7%

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Age distribution

Median age 37

Under 18 6,570 21.7%
18–24 3,183 10.5%
25–44 8,457 27.9%
45–64 7,150 23.6%
65 and over 4,937 16.3%

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Economic context

Local economy

Unemployment (12-mo): 2.0%; -0.1 pp vs. state
County GDP: $1.3B; 1.7% of state
Avg. annual pay: $57,255
Establishments: 1,056

U.S. BLS 2026M02 · U.S. BEA 2024 · BLS QCEW 2024

Top employment sectors

Average annual employment by supersector

Education & health services 2,581 30.0%
Trade, transportation & utilities 1,493 17.4%
Construction 1,049 12.2%
Public administration 952 11.1%
Leisure & hospitality 838 9.7%
Professional & business services 590 6.9%
Manufacturing 393 4.6%
Financial activities 299 3.5%
Other services 274 3.2%
Natural resources & mining 70 0.8%
Information 33 0.4%

BLS QCEW 2024

Housing

Home ownership: 72.7%
Median gross rent: $1,150
Owner-occupied: 8,581
Renter-occupied: 3,220

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Political composition

Presidential results

2024 presidential · 14,672 votes cast

Republican 10,887 74.2%
Democratic 3,421 23.3%
Other / third-party 364 2.5%

Election results 2024

Languages, households, faith & health

Languages spoken at home

96.5% speak only English at home

Spanish 494 1.7%
Chinese 130 0.5%
Slavic languages 99 0.3%
German 86 0.3%
Other Asian/Pacific 60 0.2%
Tagalog 35 0.1%
Other 33 0.1%
Vietnamese 30 0.1%
Arabic 22 0.1%
Korean 4 0.0%

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Household composition

Households: 11,801
Family households: 8,201; 69.5% of households
Married w/ children: 6,336
Single-mother households: 466
Veterans: 2,971; 13.3% of civilians 18+

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Religious composition

35.1% overall adherence rate

Evangelical Protestant 4,109 13.8%
Catholic 3,375 11.3%
Mainline Protestant 2,092 7.0%
Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 910 3.0%

US Religion Census 2020

Health & education

Health insured: 90.7%
With a disability: 14.8%
Bachelor's or higher: 26.9%

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Court infrastructure

Trial court: 4th Judicial Circuit Court
Judges: 3 (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: Belle Fourche, Bison, Buffalo, Deadwood, Dupree, McIntosh, Sturgis, Timber Lake

Court reference

Traffic safety context

South Dakota statewide totals, 2023 — not county-specific

Traffic fatalities: 5; 21.07 per 100k drivers
Fatal crashes: 5

NHTSA FARS 2023