Clay County, South Dakota
Precinct data
Results by precinct
21 precincts · 5,657 votes
Precinct boundaries and identifiers are cycle-specific. This table does not join rows across years without a validated crosswalk.
| Precinct -0303 | 450 | 600 | 32 | 1,082 | 41.6% | 55.5% | R+13.9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Precinct -S1S1 | 498 | 335 | 19 | 852 | 58.5% | 39.3% | D+19.1 |
| Precinct -W1W1 | 398 | 270 | 22 | 690 | 57.7% | 39.1% | D+18.6 |
| Precinct -S2S2 | 391 | 212 | 6 | 609 | 64.2% | 34.8% | D+29.4 |
| Precinct -W2W2 | 241 | 184 | 11 | 436 | 55.3% | 42.2% | D+13.1 |
| Precinct -0101 | 118 | 309 | 7 | 434 | 27.2% | 71.2% | R+44.0 |
| Precinct -E1E1 | 217 | 184 | 7 | 408 | 53.2% | 45.1% | D+8.1 |
| Precinct -0202 | 119 | 253 | 12 | 384 | 31.0% | 65.9% | R+34.9 |
| Precinct -C1C1 | 269 | 91 | 8 | 368 | 73.1% | 24.7% | D+48.4 |
| Precinct -C2C2 | 124 | 73 | 9 | 206 | 60.2% | 35.4% | D+24.8 |
| Precinct -E2E2 | 119 | 63 | 6 | 188 | 63.3% | 33.5% | D+29.8 |
| VTD-precinct W01W1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| VTD-precinct W02W2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| VTD-precinct W03W3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| VTD-Vermillion precinct Central 2C2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| VTD-Vermillion precinct Central C-1C1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| VTD-Vermillion precinct Northeast - NE246_46027VTDNE2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| VTD-Vermillion precinct Northwest - NW146_46027VTDNW1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| VTD-Vermillion precinct Northwest - NW246_46027VTDNW2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| VTD-Vermillion precinct Southeast - SE-146_46027VTDSE1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| VTD-Vermillion precinct Southeast - SE-246_46027VTDSE2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | −44.1% |
| 1896 | −7.6% |
| 1900 | −14.2% |
| 1904 | −61.2% |
| 1908 | −22.7% |
| 1912 | +41.0% |
| 1916 | +9.2% |
| 1920 | −32.1% |
| 1924 | −27.6% |
| 1928 | −27.1% |
| 1932 | +33.0% |
| 1936 | +27.4% |
| 1940 | −4.2% |
| 1944 | −4.6% |
| 1948 | −3.4% |
| 1952 | −40.1% |
| 1956 | −15.4% |
| 1960 | −19.2% |
| 1964 | +18.1% |
| 1968 | −5.5% |
| 1972 | +5.7% |
| 1976 | −1.0% |
| 1980 | −11.6% |
| 1984 | −6.0% |
| 1988 | +10.6% |
| 1992 | +15.9% |
| 1996 | +17.4% |
| 2000 | +5.4% |
| 2004 | +10.2% |
| 2008 | +24.2% |
| 2012 | +15.4% |
| 2016 | +9.8% |
| 2020 | +11.0% |
| 2024 | +6.5% |
U.S. Senate
| Year | Won | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | R | 43.3%2,042 | 53.5%2,522 | 4,713 |
| 2020 | R | 49.6%2,807 | 50.4%2,857 | 5,664 |
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Clay County, SD registers Republican but votes Democratic — a 13-point gap between how voters register and how they vote, the signature of ancestral registration that trails realignment.
8,312 registered voters · 2026
Who moves in and out
Net migration over time, and who arrivals are — where they came from and what those places vote
−182 net domestic migration · 2025
Net −532 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Arrivals reported $45,669 in average income, against $82,045 for residents who stayed — 44% lower. (IRS SOI, 2022–23)
The places arrivals came from lean R+24.4 on average — 31 points more Republican-leaning than Clay County, SD itself (D+6.5).
Where arrivals came from lean of each source
- Minnehaha County, SD50R+12.7
- Yankton County, SD34R+25.5
- Union County, SD31R+40.7
- Lincoln County, SD20R+26.5
Where departures went households, 2022–23
- Minnehaha County, SD84
- Yankton County, SD53
- Lincoln County, SD39
- Woodbury County, IA30
- Union County, SD27
Migration is one input to a place’s political change, not its cause — a shift can also come from residents changing their minds, generational turnover, or turnout. These figures describe the places people moved between; they do not measure how any mover voted.
| Year | Net domestic migration |
|---|---|
| 2011 | +81 |
| 2012 | −8 |
| 2013 | −217 |
| 2014 | −119 |
| 2015 | −150 |
| 2016 | +64 |
| 2017 | −19 |
| 2018 | −89 |
| 2019 | +38 |
| 2021 | +119 |
| 2022 | +59 |
| 2023 | +80 |
| 2024 | −189 |
| 2025 | −182 |
Home to the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, Clay County tilts Democratic in a deeply red state — a pattern driven largely by student population and academic employment concentrated in a single small city.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 41.0 points in 1912 and a Republican high of 61.2 points in 1904. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved 4.5 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 6.5 points.
A population of 15,219, a 84% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $56,850 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Story County and Blue Earth County.
The counties whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
Browse places by community — income, education, race & ethnicity, language — all community cuts →
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 →
Clay County, South Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/46027/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.