Bennett County, South Dakota: Florida Surge county. In 2024, voted R+26%. Democratic peak: D+71 in 1912.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+26MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Florida SurgeAkashic typology
- Population
- 3,3452024 5-year
- Median household income
- $53,7502024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 36.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+71 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+52 in 1916MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Lyman County, SD · similarity 0.95
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Bennett CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Bennett County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
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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 | No data |
| 1896 | No data |
| 1900 | No data |
| 1904 | No data |
| 1908 | No data |
| 1912 | +70.8% |
| 1916 | −52.2% |
| 1920 | −4.6% |
| 1924 | −44.0% |
| 1928 | −16.9% |
| 1932 | +50.2% |
| 1936 | +20.5% |
| 1940 | −3.1% |
| 1944 | +6.8% |
| 1948 | +22.4% |
| 1952 | −25.7% |
| 1956 | −4.3% |
| 1960 | −12.4% |
| 1964 | +10.8% |
| 1968 | −16.9% |
| 1972 | −25.8% |
| 1976 | −11.6% |
| 1980 | −43.0% |
| 1984 | −30.6% |
| 1988 | −6.7% |
| 1992 | −11.9% |
| 1996 | −2.8% |
| 2000 | +30.0% |
| 2004 | −4.5% |
| 2008 | −4.7% |
| 2012 | −6.5% |
| 2016 | −22.1% |
| 2020 | −19.3% |
| 2024 | −26.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 389 | 676 | 1,088 | ||
| R | 466 | 694 | 1,183 | ||
| R | 412 | 666 | 1,149 | ||
| R | 548 | 626 | 1,203 | ||
| R | 557 | 614 | 1,208 | ||
| R | 759 | 833 | 1,630 | ||
| D | 712 | 377 | 1,116 | ||
| R | 507 | 539 | 1,145 | ||
| R | 413 | 556 | 1,197 | ||
| R | 579 | 663 | 1,262 | ||
| R | 453 | 856 | 1,316 | ||
| R | 350 | 919 | 1,324 | ||
| R | 481 | 610 | 1,111 | ||
| R | 476 | 808 | 1,286 | ||
| R | 457 | 665 | 1,233 | ||
| D | 775 | 624 | 1,399 | ||
| R | 607 | 779 | 1,386 | ||
| R | 685 | 746 | 1,431 | ||
| R | 516 | 873 | 1,389 | ||
| D | 758 | 477 | 1,252 | ||
| D | 566 | 494 | 1,060 | ||
| R | 860 | 915 | 1,775 | ||
| D | 807 | 530 | 1,349 | ||
| D | 1,410 | 453 | 1,908 | ||
| R | 544 | 766 | 1,317 | ||
| R | 102 | 444 | 778 | ||
| R | 199 | 220 | 452 | ||
| R | 67 | 222 | 297 | ||
| D | 179 | 0 | 253 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
12.3%
English
5.3%
Irish
3.3%
American
2.2%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
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: 27.4 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
$53,750
Bennett County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Bennett County$53,750
South Dakota$75,081
United States$80,734
Bennett County ranks in the bottom 25% 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
29.9%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1835.0%
Working age (18–64)27.1%
Seniors (65+)28.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
88.0%
speak English only
Other languages10.0%
Other Indo-European1.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.8%
Spanish0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 71.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Bennett County's large Lakota population — concentrated on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation — creates a distinct demographic mix rare in rural South Dakota, yet Republican margins at the county level have held in the mid-to-high double digits across recent cycles.
The Democratic margin here once reached seventy-one points in 1912. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved seven points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-six points.
A population of 3,345, a 36% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $53,750 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Lyman County and Jackson 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.
Bennett County, South Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/46007/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in South Dakota
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Frequently asked questions
How did Bennett County, South Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Bennett County, South Dakota voted Republican by 26.4 points (R+26), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 1,088 votes cast, 389 went Democratic and 676 went Republican.
What is Bennett County, South Dakota's political typology?
Akashic places Bennett County, South Dakota in the "Florida Surge" typology — Florida coastal and retiree counties that moved sharply Republican across the Trump era. 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 7 times, Republican 22 times, and other 0 times.
When did Bennett County, South Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Bennett County, South Dakota voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Bennett County, South Dakota?
Bennett County, South Dakota has a population of 3,345 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Bennett County, South Dakota?
Median household income in Bennett County, South Dakota is $53,750 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of Bennett County, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Bennett County, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 7 went Democratic and 22 went Republican. The county's typology — "Florida Surge" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.