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PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in South Dakota

12 persistent-poverty counties

South Dakota has 12 persistent-poverty counties and 58 nonmetro counties — home to 78,992 residents living in counties with 30+ years of 20%-or-higher poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 12.0% and child poverty is 15.0%.

12

Persistent-poverty counties

58

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

79K

Residents in PPCs

66

Total counties

South Dakota by county

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Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

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South Dakota at a glance

Poverty rate

12.0%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

15.0%

Under 18

PPC share

18.2%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

87.9%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

0.89

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.37

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides South Dakota's 8 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 66 in South Dakota.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Oglala Lakota 0.81
  2. 2 Todd 0.80
  3. 3 Mellette 0.78
  4. 4 Corson 0.78
  5. 5 Ziebach 0.75

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Oglala Lakota 52.8%
  2. 2 Todd 49.0%
  3. 3 Mellette 46.2%
  4. 4 Corson 45.2%
  5. 5 Ziebach 38.2%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

  1. 1 Oglala Lakota 52.8%
  2. 2 Todd 49.0%
  3. 3 Mellette 46.2%
  4. 4 Corson 45.2%
  5. 5 Ziebach 38.2%

Every county in South Dakota

All 66 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Aurora 9 — — 8.4% 16.0% 2,573 0.33
Beadle 7 — — 13.8% 14.1% 19,279 0.28
Bennett 9 Yes Low emp., Pop. loss 31.9% 41.2% 3,354 0.73
Bon Homme 9 — Low emp., Pop. loss 11.8% 22.8% 7,024 0.35
Brookings 5 — — 12.8% 7.7% 34,968 0.20
Brown 5 — — 10.6% 11.9% 38,079 0.19
Brule 9 — Pop. loss 10.5% 9.7% 5,261 0.34
Buffalo 9 Yes Low emp., Low ed., Housing 32.5% 35.9% 1,757 0.73
Butte 7 — — 7.2% 4.1% 10,538 0.25
Campbell 9 — Pop. loss 8.5% 5.2% 1,481 0.33
Charles Mix 9 Yes — 22.8% 30.8% 9,281 0.69
Clark 9 — — 11.1% 5.3% 3,876 0.34
Clay 6 Yes Housing 19.8% 9.2% 15,133 0.57
Codington 5 — — 10.2% 10.3% 28,556 0.19
Corson 9 Yes Low emp., Pop. loss 45.2% 60.5% 3,859 0.78
Custer 3 — Housing, Retire. 6.6% 7.7% 8,686 0.10
Davison 7 — — 12.4% 12.6% 19,936 0.27
Day 9 — Pop. loss 14.0% 24.7% 5,460 0.36
Deuel 9 — Pop. loss 6.7% 5.1% 4,318 0.33
Dewey 9 Yes Pop. loss 32.3% 40.3% 5,230 0.73
Douglas 9 — Pop. loss 13.7% 25.6% 2,823 0.35
Edmunds 9 — Pop. loss 8.5% 11.7% 4,033 0.33
Fall River 9 — Pop. loss, Housing, Retire. 19.7% 27.1% 7,179 0.38
Faulk 9 — Pop. loss 25.6% 39.1% 2,137 0.40
Grant 9 — — 11.2% 12.4% 7,544 0.34
Gregory 9 — Pop. loss 11.0% 12.8% 3,993 0.34
Haakon 9 — Pop. loss 8.2% 7.8% 1,708 0.33
Hamlin 9 — — 6.6% 9.0% 6,288 0.33
Hand 9 — Pop. loss 6.6% 2.8% 3,045 0.33
Hanson 8 — Retire. 6.2% 11.1% 3,473 0.29
Harding 9 — — 5.6% 1.7% 1,092 0.32
Hughes 7 — — 9.2% 8.9% 17,732 0.26
Hutchinson 8 — — 10.0% 10.2% 7,393 0.30
Hyde 9 — Pop. loss 8.2% 9.4% 1,305 0.33
Jackson 9 Yes Low emp., Housing 37.5% 39.9% 2,826 0.75
Jerauld 9 — Pop. loss 10.4% 13.2% 1,845 0.34
Jones 9 — Pop. loss 15.8% 24.6% 1,030 0.36
Kingsbury 9 — — 9.7% 7.6% 5,210 0.34
Lake 6 — Pop. loss, Retire. 9.4% 15.6% 11,052 0.23
Lawrence 6 — Retire. 11.8% 14.6% 26,574 0.23
Lincoln 2 — Retire. 5.8% 7.8% 68,286 0.06
Lyman 9 — Pop. loss 24.6% 31.5% 3,717 0.40
Marshall 9 — — 7.9% 8.7% 4,355 0.33
McCook 2 — — 7.4% 6.5% 5,732 0.07
McPherson 9 — Pop. loss 12.6% 6.2% 2,278 0.35
Meade 3 — — 7.6% 7.4% 30,297 0.11
Mellette 9 Yes Low emp., Low ed., Pop. loss 46.2% 63.4% 2,043 0.78
Miner 8 — Pop. loss 10.3% 12.8% 2,299 0.30
Minnehaha 2 — — 8.8% 10.5% 200,689 0.07
Moody 8 — Pop. loss 9.9% 13.0% 6,371 0.30
Oglala Lakota 9 Yes Low emp., Low ed., Housing 52.8% 55.0% 13,587 0.81
Pennington 3 — Retire. 12.0% 17.3% 112,081 0.12
Perkins 9 — Pop. loss 11.7% 17.2% 3,058 0.35
Potter 9 — — 7.7% 16.4% 2,430 0.33
Roberts 9 Yes — 17.3% 24.8% 10,219 0.67
Sanborn 9 — Pop. loss 11.4% 10.2% 2,370 0.35
Spink 9 — Pop. loss 9.2% 11.4% 6,283 0.34
Stanley 9 — — 2.1% 0.6% 3,012 0.31
Sully 9 — — 7.9% 2.5% 1,481 0.33
Todd 9 Yes Low emp., Housing 49.0% 57.3% 9,293 0.80
Tripp 9 — Pop. loss 18.9% 33.4% 5,607 0.38
Turner 2 — — 8.5% 8.7% 8,772 0.07
Union 3 — — 7.3% 5.5% 16,916 0.10
Walworth 9 — Pop. loss 15.3% 24.9% 5,298 0.36
Yankton 7 — — 9.4% 11.2% 23,379 0.26
Ziebach 9 Yes Low emp. 38.2% 46.7% 2,410 0.75

Find a food pantry in South Dakota

Search South Dakota's 8 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

South Dakota pantry directory

South Dakota SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

South Dakota SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

South Dakota food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology