Brule County, South Dakota: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+42%. Democratic peak: D+54 in 1912.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+42MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 5,2832024 5-year
- Median household income
- $73,7202024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 82.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+54 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+43 in 2016MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Alleghany County, NC · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Brule CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Brule 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 | −27.7% |
| 1896 | +20.4% |
| 1900 | +5.3% |
| 1904 | −6.3% |
| 1908 | +4.4% |
| 1912 | +53.6% |
| 1916 | −14.1% |
| 1920 | −18.0% |
| 1924 | −14.4% |
| 1928 | +5.5% |
| 1932 | +50.3% |
| 1936 | +39.0% |
| 1940 | +15.2% |
| 1944 | +17.0% |
| 1948 | +21.5% |
| 1952 | −6.3% |
| 1956 | +18.0% |
| 1960 | +6.6% |
| 1964 | +39.0% |
| 1968 | +6.7% |
| 1972 | +7.9% |
| 1976 | +13.2% |
| 1980 | −26.8% |
| 1984 | −24.1% |
| 1988 | +1.0% |
| 1992 | +5.7% |
| 1996 | +4.6% |
| 2000 | +20.8% |
| 2004 | −19.2% |
| 2008 | −18.1% |
| 2012 | −28.4% |
| 2016 | −43.4% |
| 2020 | −43.3% |
| 2024 | −42.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 666 | 1,694 | 2,423 | ||
| R | 673 | 1,750 | 2,490 | ||
| R | 571 | 1,565 | 2,288 | ||
| R | 824 | 1,499 | 2,379 | ||
| R | 965 | 1,407 | 2,439 | ||
| R | 1,040 | 1,544 | 2,629 | ||
| D | 1,268 | 818 | 2,167 | ||
| D | 1,091 | 981 | 2,404 | ||
| D | 1,060 | 908 | 2,676 | ||
| D | 991 | 971 | 1,974 | ||
| R | 961 | 1,578 | 2,556 | ||
| R | 925 | 1,674 | 2,800 | ||
| D | 1,534 | 1,175 | 2,723 | ||
| D | 1,665 | 1,421 | 3,097 | ||
| D | 1,425 | 1,237 | 2,815 | ||
| D | 2,205 | 968 | 3,173 | ||
| D | 1,600 | 1,403 | 3,003 | ||
| D | 1,894 | 1,317 | 3,211 | ||
| R | 1,392 | 1,578 | 2,970 | ||
| D | 1,646 | 1,056 | 2,744 | ||
| D | 1,412 | 1,002 | 2,414 | ||
| D | 1,835 | 1,352 | 3,187 | ||
| D | 2,274 | 982 | 3,317 | ||
| D | 2,465 | 797 | 3,315 | ||
| D | 1,599 | 1,431 | 3,080 | ||
| O | 650 | 1,060 | 2,856 | ||
| R | 671 | 1,036 | 2,030 | ||
| R | 729 | 975 | 1,750 | ||
| D | 842 | 0 | 1,570 | ||
| D | 823 | 753 | 1,609 | ||
| R | 608 | 693 | 1,343 | ||
| D | 716 | 644 | 1,366 | ||
| D | 668 | 441 | 1,114 | ||
| R | 200 | 538 | 1,222 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
33.1%
American
9.7%
Irish
7.9%
English
5.6%
Scottish
2.2%
Polish
0.6%
French
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: 41.5 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
$73,720
Brule County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Brule County$73,720
South Dakota$75,081
United States$80,734
Brule 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
10.7%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 186.7%
Working age (18–64)11.6%
Seniors (65+)14.8%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.4%
speak English only
Other Indo-European3.2%
Spanish1.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.7%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 35.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Brule County sits along the Missouri River in central South Dakota, where a sparse, agriculture-driven population has delivered Republican presidential margins exceeding 40 points in recent cycles, consistent with broader trends across the state's rural interior.
The Republican margin here reached forty-three points in 2016. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Democratic candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-two points.
A population of 5,283, a 82% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $73,720 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Alleghany County and Edmunds 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.
Brule County, South Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/46015/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in South Dakota
More stable rural right counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Brule County, South Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Brule County, South Dakota voted Republican by 42.4 points (R+42), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 2,423 votes cast, 666 went Democratic and 1,694 went Republican.
What is Brule County, South Dakota's political typology?
Akashic places Brule County, South Dakota in the "Stable Rural Right" typology — Mountain, Plains, and rural Republican counties already near their ceiling, with little further room to swing. 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 20 times, Republican 13 times, and other 1 times.
When did Brule County, South Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Brule County, South Dakota voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Brule County, South Dakota?
Brule County, South Dakota has a population of 5,283 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Brule County, South Dakota?
Median household income in Brule County, South Dakota is $73,720 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of Brule County, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Brule County, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 20 went Democratic and 13 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.