Hand County, South Dakota: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+57%. Republican peak: R+58 in 2016.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+57MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 3,1402024 5-year
- Median household income
- $74,6352024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+49 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+58 in 2016MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Faulk County, SD · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Hand CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Hand 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 | −38.5% |
| 1896 | +11.3% |
| 1900 | +0.2% |
| 1904 | −55.3% |
| 1908 | −11.9% |
| 1912 | +48.7% |
| 1916 | −5.8% |
| 1920 | −34.6% |
| 1924 | −32.4% |
| 1928 | −26.9% |
| 1932 | +30.8% |
| 1936 | +13.3% |
| 1940 | −10.9% |
| 1944 | −15.2% |
| 1948 | −1.3% |
| 1952 | −41.4% |
| 1956 | −10.8% |
| 1960 | −14.5% |
| 1964 | +3.2% |
| 1968 | −17.1% |
| 1972 | −16.0% |
| 1976 | −1.1% |
| 1980 | −41.2% |
| 1984 | −41.0% |
| 1988 | −14.0% |
| 1992 | −13.6% |
| 1996 | −16.9% |
| 2000 | +42.0% |
| 2004 | −37.2% |
| 2008 | −26.3% |
| 2012 | −36.1% |
| 2016 | −58.1% |
| 2020 | −57.7% |
| 2024 | −57.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 365 | 1,376 | 1,764 | ||
| R | 373 | 1,433 | 1,836 | ||
| R | 334 | 1,391 | 1,818 | ||
| R | 575 | 1,242 | 1,848 | ||
| R | 718 | 1,247 | 2,011 | ||
| R | 668 | 1,482 | 2,187 | ||
| D | 1,419 | 565 | 2,031 | ||
| R | 803 | 1,187 | 2,268 | ||
| R | 785 | 1,130 | 2,546 | ||
| R | 1,101 | 1,461 | 2,578 | ||
| R | 846 | 2,030 | 2,886 | ||
| R | 803 | 2,066 | 3,066 | ||
| R | 1,477 | 1,510 | 2,994 | ||
| R | 1,307 | 1,806 | 3,119 | ||
| R | 1,136 | 1,650 | 3,012 | ||
| D | 1,563 | 1,466 | 3,029 | ||
| R | 1,397 | 1,872 | 3,269 | ||
| R | 1,453 | 1,804 | 3,257 | ||
| R | 937 | 2,262 | 3,199 | ||
| R | 1,367 | 1,402 | 2,778 | ||
| R | 1,146 | 1,558 | 2,704 | ||
| R | 1,608 | 2,002 | 3,610 | ||
| D | 1,721 | 1,289 | 3,237 | ||
| D | 2,658 | 1,394 | 4,105 | ||
| R | 1,397 | 2,430 | 3,841 | ||
| R | 690 | 1,727 | 3,198 | ||
| R | 655 | 1,511 | 2,474 | ||
| R | 801 | 905 | 1,782 | ||
| O | 826 | 0 | 1,695 | ||
| R | 655 | 851 | 1,650 | ||
| R | 170 | 943 | 1,397 | ||
| D | 594 | 592 | 1,207 | ||
| D | 567 | 451 | 1,026 | ||
| O | 70 | 526 | 1,183 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
40.6%
English
14.9%
Irish
9.2%
American
4.9%
Polish
1.2%
Scottish
0.9%
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: 42.5 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
$74,635
Hand County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Hand County$74,635
South Dakota$75,081
United States$80,734
Hand County ranks in the top 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
5.2%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 181.6%
Working age (18–64)5.2%
Seniors (65+)14.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.5%
speak English only
Other Indo-European2.6%
Spanish0.9%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 36.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Hand County, a sparsely populated stretch of central South Dakota plains, has delivered Republican presidential margins above 50 points in consecutive cycles, reflecting the deep rural conservatism typical of the region's agricultural heartland.
The Republican margin here reached fifty-eight points in 2016. The 2024 margin was fifty-seven points.
A population of 3,140, a 92% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $74,635 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Faulk County and Perkins 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.
Hand County, South Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/46059/. 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 Hand County, South Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Hand County, South Dakota voted Republican by 57.3 points (R+57), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 1,764 votes cast, 365 went Democratic and 1,376 went Republican.
What is Hand County, South Dakota's political typology?
Akashic places Hand 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 6 times, Republican 26 times, and other 2 times.
When did Hand County, South Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Hand County, South Dakota voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Hand County, South Dakota?
Hand County, South Dakota has a population of 3,140 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Hand County, South Dakota?
Median household income in Hand County, South Dakota is $74,635 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of Hand County, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Hand County, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.