Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota

• White (non-Hispanic) 950 7.0%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 259 1.9%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 9 0.1%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 25 0.2%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 12,248 90.8%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%

• Under 18 4,777 35.4%
• 18–24 1,586 11.8%
• 25–44 3,569 26.5%
• 45–64 2,546 18.9%
• 65 and over 1,013 7.5%

Median household income

$44,706

90% interval $39,299–$50,113

−$32,788 vs SD · 64th of 66

Below poverty line

35.8%

90% interval 27.6%–44.0%

+25.3 pp vs SD · 4th of 66

Unemployment (12-mo)

5.3%

+3.19 pp vs. state

County GDP

$432.7M

0.56% of state

Avg. annual pay

$52,383

Establishments

134

• Education & health services 1,866 49.0%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 215 5.6%
• Construction 83 2.2%
• Other services 75 2.0%
• Leisure & hospitality 72 1.9%
• Professional & business services 51 1.3%
• Information 29 0.8%
• Financial activities 18 0.5%
• Natural resources & mining 10 0.3%
• Public administration 1 0.0%

The sectors listed cover 63.6% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

51.5%

−17.1 pp vs SD · 64th of 66

Median gross rent

$584

−$362 vs SD · 60th of 66

Owner-occupied

1,504

Renter-occupied

1,419

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 57% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Moderate wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Professional & business services, $78,265/yr) pays 3.2× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $24,401/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Institutional employer scale

  Average establishment employs 28 workers, typical of an institutional-employer economy where large hospitals, plants, schools, and government agencies dominate. Expect many panelists to share an employer rather than work for themselves.

• Democratic 2,567 83.8%
• Republican 406 13.3%
• Other / third-party 89 2.9%

• Spanish 51 0.4%
• German or other West Germanic 14 0.1%

Households

2,923

Family households

2,410

82.4% of households

Married couples w/ children

265

11.0% of families

Single-mother families

636

26.4% of families

Veterans

311

3.6% of civilians 18+

• Mainline Protestant 1,208 8.8%
• Catholic 1,029 7.5%
• Evangelical Protestant 647 4.7%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 415 3.0%

Health insured

55.4%

±4.7 pp

Uninsured

44.6%

±4.7 pp

1st of 66

With a disability

10.7%

±2.4 pp

51st of 66

Bachelor's or higher

11.8%

±3.7 pp

−20.1 pp vs SD · 65th of 66

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

10.7%

90% interval 9.5%–11.9% · Census SAHIE

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

Trial court

7th Judicial Circuit Court

Judges

6 (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

Custer, Hot Springs, Pine Ridge, Rapid City

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

3

34.43 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

3