Brown County, South Dakota: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+27%. Republican peak: R+53 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+27MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 37,8772024 5-year
- Median household income
- $70,8982024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 85.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+51 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+53 in 1924MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Jerauld County, SD · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
Precinct
Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Hover precincts for detail. Real precinct boundaries forthcoming.
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 | −36.6% |
| 1896 | +7.1% |
| 1900 | −11.8% |
| 1904 | −42.4% |
| 1908 | −18.5% |
| 1912 | +50.7% |
| 1916 | −0.3% |
| 1920 | −42.7% |
| 1924 | −52.7% |
| 1928 | −17.6% |
| 1932 | +29.6% |
| 1936 | +33.4% |
| 1940 | +9.9% |
| 1944 | +6.2% |
| 1948 | +11.7% |
| 1952 | −21.9% |
| 1956 | −6.6% |
| 1960 | −0.9% |
| 1964 | +24.5% |
| 1968 | +4.2% |
| 1972 | +0.5% |
| 1976 | +7.7% |
| 1980 | −25.0% |
| 1984 | −21.1% |
| 1988 | +0.8% |
| 1992 | +4.7% |
| 1996 | +6.8% |
| 2000 | +11.4% |
| 2004 | −13.1% |
| 2008 | +5.6% |
| 2012 | −6.7% |
| 2016 | −25.8% |
| 2020 | −23.0% |
| 2024 | −26.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 6,075 | 10,645 | 17,043 | ||
| R | 6,538 | 10,580 | 17,547 | ||
| R | 5,452 | 9,613 | 16,114 | ||
| R | 7,250 | 8,321 | 16,068 | ||
| D | 9,041 | 8,067 | 17,426 | ||
| R | 7,943 | 10,386 | 18,599 | ||
| D | 9,060 | 7,173 | 16,556 | ||
| D | 7,913 | 6,801 | 16,447 | ||
| D | 7,521 | 6,665 | 18,047 | ||
| D | 8,673 | 8,537 | 17,302 | ||
| R | 6,852 | 10,541 | 17,465 | ||
| R | 6,050 | 10,550 | 17,999 | ||
| D | 8,888 | 7,609 | 16,633 | ||
| D | 8,216 | 8,134 | 16,451 | ||
| D | 7,302 | 6,685 | 14,547 | ||
| D | 9,107 | 5,524 | 14,631 | ||
| R | 7,893 | 8,037 | 15,930 | ||
| R | 7,184 | 8,193 | 15,377 | ||
| R | 6,140 | 9,581 | 15,721 | ||
| D | 7,148 | 5,632 | 12,972 | ||
| D | 6,352 | 5,611 | 11,963 | ||
| D | 8,048 | 6,598 | 14,646 | ||
| D | 9,177 | 4,505 | 13,993 | ||
| D | 8,669 | 4,639 | 13,601 | ||
| R | 5,065 | 7,266 | 12,522 | ||
| R | 361 | 2,740 | 4,516 | ||
| R | 1,364 | 5,581 | 9,871 | ||
| R | 2,659 | 2,676 | 5,884 | ||
| D | 2,488 | 0 | 4,908 | ||
| R | 1,772 | 2,646 | 4,731 | ||
| R | 988 | 2,737 | 4,127 | ||
| R | 1,722 | 2,197 | 4,037 | ||
| D | 1,867 | 1,618 | 3,506 | ||
| O | 279 | 1,446 | 3,190 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
42.7%
English
7.8%
Irish
7.2%
American
4.5%
French
2.2%
Polish
1.0%
Scottish
1.0%
African American
1.2%
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: 37.8 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
$70,898
Brown County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Brown County$70,898
South Dakota$75,081
United States$80,734
Brown 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
11.7%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1812.2%
Working age (18–64)11.6%
Seniors (65+)11.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
93.4%
speak English only
Spanish2.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander2.1%
Other Indo-European1.8%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 24.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Brown County anchors the agricultural northeast corner of South Dakota, with Aberdeen serving as a regional trade and healthcare center. Once competitive at the presidential level, it has shifted toward double-digit Republican margins since 2012.
The Republican margin here reached fifty-three points in 1924. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-seven points.
A population of 37,877, a 85% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $70,898 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Jerauld County and Miner 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.
Brown County, South Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/46013/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in South Dakota
More farm belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Brown County, South Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Brown County, South Dakota voted Republican by 26.8 points (R+27), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 17,043 votes cast, 6,075 went Democratic and 10,645 went Republican.
What is Brown County, South Dakota's political typology?
Akashic places Brown County, South Dakota in the "Farm Belt" typology — Rural Plains and Midwest farm counties — Republican, with modest recent movement. 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 16 times, Republican 17 times, and other 1 times.
When did Brown County, South Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Brown County, South Dakota voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Brown County, South Dakota?
Brown County, South Dakota has a population of 37,877 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Brown County, South Dakota?
Median household income in Brown County, South Dakota is $70,898 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of Brown County, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Brown County, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 16 went Democratic and 17 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.