Buffalo County, South Dakota: Black Belt county. In 2024, voted D+27%. Democratic peak: D+54 in 1912.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+27MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Black BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 1,8082024 5-year
- Median household income
- $47,0452024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 17.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+54 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+42 in 1892MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Hertford County, NC · similarity 0.97
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Buffalo CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Buffalo 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 | −42.2% |
| 1896 | +7.5% |
| 1900 | +6.9% |
| 1904 | −38.5% |
| 1908 | −20.2% |
| 1912 | +53.8% |
| 1916 | −38.5% |
| 1920 | −29.6% |
| 1924 | −11.3% |
| 1928 | −2.3% |
| 1932 | +40.0% |
| 1936 | +5.3% |
| 1940 | −10.8% |
| 1944 | −12.9% |
| 1948 | +3.2% |
| 1952 | −22.9% |
| 1956 | +0.6% |
| 1960 | +6.4% |
| 1964 | +28.6% |
| 1968 | +0.7% |
| 1972 | +10.9% |
| 1976 | +10.6% |
| 1980 | −27.4% |
| 1984 | −3.4% |
| 1988 | +37.3% |
| 1992 | +29.2% |
| 1996 | +51.7% |
| 2000 | −28.4% |
| 2004 | +45.2% |
| 2008 | +48.1% |
| 2012 | +47.7% |
| 2016 | +25.5% |
| 2020 | +30.8% |
| 2024 | +27.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 291 | 164 | 466 | ||
| D | 352 | 183 | 549 | ||
| D | 296 | 171 | 490 | ||
| D | 472 | 166 | 641 | ||
| D | 454 | 156 | 619 | ||
| D | 603 | 223 | 841 | ||
| R | 140 | 256 | 408 | ||
| D | 465 | 134 | 640 | ||
| D | 282 | 137 | 496 | ||
| D | 334 | 151 | 490 | ||
| R | 236 | 253 | 494 | ||
| R | 147 | 272 | 456 | ||
| D | 240 | 194 | 434 | ||
| D | 275 | 221 | 497 | ||
| D | 265 | 261 | 554 | ||
| D | 501 | 278 | 779 | ||
| D | 334 | 294 | 628 | ||
| D | 318 | 314 | 632 | ||
| R | 259 | 413 | 672 | ||
| D | 334 | 313 | 652 | ||
| R | 250 | 324 | 574 | ||
| R | 395 | 491 | 886 | ||
| D | 410 | 368 | 795 | ||
| D | 634 | 270 | 911 | ||
| R | 387 | 405 | 794 | ||
| R | 225 | 309 | 744 | ||
| R | 101 | 200 | 335 | ||
| R | 80 | 182 | 265 | ||
| D | 105 | 0 | 195 | ||
| R | 69 | 105 | 178 | ||
| R | 43 | 118 | 195 | ||
| D | 100 | 87 | 188 | ||
| D | 79 | 68 | 147 | ||
| R | 13 | 78 | 154 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
7.2%
American
7.2%
French
1.1%
English
0.5%
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: 22.8 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
$47,045
Buffalo County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Buffalo County$47,045
South Dakota$75,081
United States$80,734
Buffalo 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
33.9%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1836.9%
Working age (18–64)32.5%
Seniors (65+)23.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
99.1%
speak English only
Other languages0.9%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 22.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Buffalo County's electorate is shaped by the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation, which covers most of its land area and drives the county's consistent and substantial Democratic margins in statewide and federal contests.
The Democratic margin here reached fifty-four points in 1912. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-seven points. The recent movement, modest against a deep Democratic baseline, mirrors a broader rightward drift across the Black Belt.
The economic context is part of the story: a median household income of $47,045 and a 34% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Hertford County and Warren 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.
Buffalo County, South Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/46017/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in South Dakota
More black belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Buffalo County, South Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Buffalo County, South Dakota voted Democratic by 27.3 points (D+27), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 466 votes cast, 291 went Democratic and 164 went Republican.
What is Buffalo County, South Dakota's political typology?
Akashic places Buffalo County, South Dakota in the "Black Belt" typology — Black-majority counties of the rural South — long the most Democratic ground in the region, now trending Republican at the margins. 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 21 times, Republican 13 times, and other 0 times.
When did Buffalo County, South Dakota last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Buffalo County, South Dakota voted Republican was 2000.
How many people live in Buffalo County, South Dakota?
Buffalo County, South Dakota has a population of 1,808 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Buffalo County, South Dakota?
Median household income in Buffalo County, South Dakota is $47,045 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of Buffalo County, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Buffalo County, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 21 went Democratic and 13 went Republican. The county's typology — "Black Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.