Pennington County, South Dakota

• White (non-Hispanic) 88,293 77.8%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 6,444 5.7%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 1,244 1.1%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 1,401 1.2%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 8,509 7.5%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 6,831 6.0%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 20 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 770 0.7%

• Under 18 24,975 22.0%
• 18–24 9,355 8.2%
• 25–44 28,162 24.8%
• 45–64 28,150 24.8%
• 65 and over 22,870 20.1%

Median household income

$79,338

90% interval $74,848–$83,828

+$1,844 vs SD · 14th of 66

Below poverty line

9.8%

90% interval 8.1%–11.5%

−0.7 pp vs SD · 46th of 66

Unemployment (12-mo)

2.0%

−0.11 pp vs. state

County GDP

$8.7B

11.31% of state

Avg. annual pay

$59,768

Establishments

5,845

• Education & health services 15,046 24.1%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 12,601 20.2%
• Leisure & hospitality 9,490 15.2%
• Professional & business services 6,520 10.4%
• Construction 4,969 8.0%
• Public administration 3,724 6.0%
• Financial activities 3,105 5.0%
• Other services 2,844 4.6%
• Manufacturing 2,515 4.0%
• Information 642 1.0%
• Natural resources & mining 256 0.4%

The sectors listed cover 98.8% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

69.3%

+0.7 pp vs SD · 49th of 66

Median gross rent

$1,120

+$174 vs SD · 3rd of 66

Owner-occupied

32,125

Renter-occupied

14,245

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 59% 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 (Financial activities, $80,436/yr) pays 2.9× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $27,754/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Mixed business scale

  Average establishment employs 11 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 35,009 61.9%
• Democratic 20,051 35.4%
• Other / third-party 1,520 2.7%

• Spanish 1,612 1.5%
• German or other West Germanic 642 0.6%
• Tagalog 332 0.3%
• Arabic 143 0.1%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 128 0.1%
• Korean 109 0.1%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 58 0.1%
• Chinese 53 0.0%
• Vietnamese 35 0.0%

Households

46,370

Family households

27,786

59.9% of households

Married couples w/ children

7,237

26.0% of families

Single-mother families

2,343

8.4% of families

Veterans

10,727

12.3% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 30,720 28.1%
• Mainline Protestant 11,037 10.1%
• Catholic 8,738 8.0%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 2,866 2.6%
• Black Protestant 200 0.2%
• Orthodox 30 0.0%

Health insured

89.8%

±0.8 pp

Uninsured

10.2%

±0.8 pp

21st of 66

With a disability

15.6%

±1 pp

9th of 66

Bachelor's or higher

34.6%

±1.7 pp

+2.7 pp vs SD · 9th of 66

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

10.5%

90% interval 9.6%–11.4% · 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

12

13.55 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

11