Aurora County, South Dakota: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+54%. Republican peak: R+54 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+54MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 2,6422024 5-year
- Median household income
- $72,8852024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 86.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 7.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+51 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+54 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Spink County, SD · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Aurora CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Aurora County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
—
Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1876–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1876 | No data |
| 1880 | No data |
| 1884 | No data |
| 1888 | No data |
| 1892 | −25.9% |
| 1896 | +10.5% |
| 1900 | −1.7% |
| 1904 | −22.1% |
| 1908 | +0.6% |
| 1912 | +51.2% |
| 1916 | −3.6% |
| 1920 | −27.4% |
| 1924 | −11.3% |
| 1928 | −4.2% |
| 1932 | +44.9% |
| 1936 | +24.3% |
| 1940 | −0.8% |
| 1944 | −7.0% |
| 1948 | +9.3% |
| 1952 | −18.8% |
| 1956 | +13.1% |
| 1960 | +0.1% |
| 1964 | +28.2% |
| 1968 | +0.8% |
| 1972 | +7.8% |
| 1976 | +20.8% |
| 1980 | −25.5% |
| 1984 | −10.0% |
| 1988 | +7.1% |
| 1992 | +5.0% |
| 1996 | −2.8% |
| 2000 | +23.6% |
| 2004 | −23.6% |
| 2008 | −9.3% |
| 2012 | −17.7% |
| 2016 | −45.1% |
| 2020 | −52.3% |
| 2024 | −54.1% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 302 | 1,056 | 1,393 | ||
| R | 317 | 1,052 | 1,405 | ||
| R | 340 | 974 | 1,407 | ||
| R | 556 | 804 | 1,400 | ||
| R | 655 | 794 | 1,495 | ||
| R | 620 | 1,009 | 1,649 | ||
| D | 847 | 513 | 1,413 | ||
| R | 664 | 709 | 1,587 | ||
| D | 680 | 594 | 1,712 | ||
| D | 987 | 856 | 1,854 | ||
| R | 840 | 1,029 | 1,883 | ||
| R | 709 | 1,251 | 2,123 | ||
| D | 1,269 | 831 | 2,109 | ||
| D | 1,257 | 1,075 | 2,339 | ||
| D | 1,060 | 1,043 | 2,233 | ||
| D | 1,555 | 871 | 2,426 | ||
| D | 1,270 | 1,267 | 2,537 | ||
| D | 1,374 | 1,055 | 2,429 | ||
| R | 997 | 1,458 | 2,455 | ||
| D | 1,275 | 1,056 | 2,347 | ||
| R | 1,011 | 1,163 | 2,174 | ||
| R | 1,385 | 1,408 | 2,793 | ||
| D | 1,801 | 1,082 | 2,963 | ||
| D | 2,304 | 860 | 3,219 | ||
| R | 1,426 | 1,552 | 3,001 | ||
| O | 665 | 967 | 2,663 | ||
| R | 445 | 1,004 | 2,041 | ||
| R | 735 | 793 | 1,596 | ||
| D | 801 | 0 | 1,564 | ||
| D | 694 | 686 | 1,432 | ||
| R | 407 | 652 | 1,109 | ||
| R | 486 | 503 | 1,011 | ||
| D | 479 | 387 | 878 | ||
| R | 207 | 461 | 982 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
36.9%
American
7.8%
Irish
6.9%
English
6.1%
Polish
1.0%
French
0.6%
Scottish
0.6%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
2024 ACS
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 41.7 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Median household income
Inflation-adjusted dollars
$72,885
Aurora County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Aurora County$72,885
South Dakota$75,081
United States$80,734
Aurora County ranks near the middle of US counties by median household income.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
10.6%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1818.1%
Working age (18–64)7.0%
Seniors (65+)17.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
92.9%
speak English only
Spanish5.3%
Other Indo-European1.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 29.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Aurora's roughly 3,000 residents are spread across a largely agricultural landscape where the 2024 presidential margin exceeded 54 points, placing it among the state's most uniformly partisan counties.
The Democratic margin here peaked at fifty-one points in 1912. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved two points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-four points.
A population of 2,642, a 87% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $72,885 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Spink County and Clark County.
Most similar counties
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Aurora County, South Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/46003/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in South Dakota
More heartland swing counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Aurora County, South Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Aurora County, South Dakota voted Republican by 54.1 points (R+54), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 1,393 votes cast, 302 went Democratic and 1,056 went Republican.
What is Aurora County, South Dakota's political typology?
Akashic places Aurora County, South Dakota in the "Heartland Swing" typology — Industrial Midwest swing counties drifting steadily toward the Republican Party. The typology is a data-driven cluster built from vote share, vote swing, race and ethnicity, income, language spoken at home, religion, and ancestry. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 15 times, Republican 18 times, and other 1 times.
When did Aurora County, South Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Aurora County, South Dakota voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Aurora County, South Dakota?
Aurora County, South Dakota has a population of 2,642 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Aurora County, South Dakota?
Median household income in Aurora County, South Dakota is $72,885 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of Aurora County, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Aurora County, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 15 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The county's typology — "Heartland Swing" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.