Clay County, South Dakota: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted D+7%. Republican peak: R+61 in 1904.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+7MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 15,2192024 5-year
- Median household income
- $56,8502024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 85.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+41 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+61 in 1904MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Buffalo County, SD · similarity 0.96
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Clay CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Clay 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 | −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% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 2,944 | 2,574 | 5,657 | ||
| D | 3,083 | 2,456 | 5,698 | ||
| D | 2,608 | 2,109 | 5,069 | ||
| D | 2,955 | 2,147 | 5,234 | ||
| D | 3,808 | 2,296 | 6,242 | ||
| D | 3,315 | 2,692 | 6,136 | ||
| R | 2,363 | 2,638 | 5,105 | ||
| D | 2,980 | 2,008 | 5,572 | ||
| D | 2,826 | 1,869 | 6,036 | ||
| D | 2,859 | 2,307 | 5,200 | ||
| R | 2,711 | 3,057 | 5,808 | ||
| R | 2,271 | 3,004 | 6,316 | ||
| R | 2,593 | 2,647 | 5,301 | ||
| D | 2,821 | 2,518 | 5,352 | ||
| R | 2,006 | 2,249 | 4,386 | ||
| D | 2,599 | 1,802 | 4,401 | ||
| R | 1,878 | 2,772 | 4,650 | ||
| R | 1,928 | 2,632 | 4,560 | ||
| R | 1,412 | 3,302 | 4,714 | ||
| R | 2,080 | 2,228 | 4,361 | ||
| R | 1,796 | 1,970 | 3,766 | ||
| R | 2,266 | 2,463 | 4,729 | ||
| D | 3,070 | 1,692 | 5,035 | ||
| D | 3,040 | 1,514 | 4,624 | ||
| R | 1,474 | 2,573 | 4,057 | ||
| O | 492 | 1,415 | 3,345 | ||
| R | 907 | 1,885 | 3,046 | ||
| R | 1,000 | 1,207 | 2,246 | ||
| O | 929 | 0 | 2,266 | ||
| R | 803 | 1,291 | 2,154 | ||
| R | 361 | 1,723 | 2,226 | ||
| R | 1,037 | 1,387 | 2,459 | ||
| R | 1,061 | 1,238 | 2,320 | ||
| R | 164 | 918 | 1,711 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
34.1%
Irish
11.2%
English
6.3%
American
3.0%
French
2.1%
Italian
1.7%
Scottish
1.5%
African American
1.4%
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: 24.9 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
$56,850
Clay County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Clay County$56,850
South Dakota$75,081
United States$80,734
Clay 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
19.7%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 186.9%
Working age (18–64)23.4%
Seniors (65+)16.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.8%
speak English only
Other Indo-European1.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.0%
Spanish0.8%
Other languages0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 65.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
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.
The Republican margin here reached sixty-one points in 1904. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was seven points.
A population of 15,219, a 85% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $56,850 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Buffalo 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.
Clay County, South Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/46027/. 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 Clay County, South Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Clay County, South Dakota voted Democratic by 6.5 points (D+7), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 5,657 votes cast, 2,944 went Democratic and 2,574 went Republican.
What is Clay County, South Dakota's political typology?
Akashic places Clay 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 13 times, Republican 19 times, and other 2 times.
When did Clay County, South Dakota last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Clay County, South Dakota voted Republican was 2000.
How many people live in Clay County, South Dakota?
Clay County, South Dakota has a population of 15,219 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Clay County, South Dakota?
Median household income in Clay County, South Dakota is $56,850 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of Clay County, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Clay County, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 13 went Democratic and 19 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.