Lawrence County, South Dakota: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+31%. Republican peak: R+57 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+31MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 27,2332024 5-year
- Median household income
- $73,3842024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 90.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+54 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+57 in 1924MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Butte County, SD · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
Precinct
Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Hover precincts for detail. Real precinct boundaries forthcoming.
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 | −38.1% |
| 1896 | +13.5% |
| 1900 | −13.3% |
| 1904 | −44.7% |
| 1908 | −21.8% |
| 1912 | +53.9% |
| 1916 | −1.9% |
| 1920 | −40.9% |
| 1924 | −56.9% |
| 1928 | −39.6% |
| 1932 | −8.8% |
| 1936 | −13.2% |
| 1940 | −20.1% |
| 1944 | −30.8% |
| 1948 | −26.0% |
| 1952 | −53.1% |
| 1956 | −42.7% |
| 1960 | −32.1% |
| 1964 | −3.8% |
| 1968 | −25.3% |
| 1972 | −30.8% |
| 1976 | −14.8% |
| 1980 | −36.3% |
| 1984 | −39.5% |
| 1988 | −19.9% |
| 1992 | −6.3% |
| 1996 | −9.1% |
| 2000 | +37.5% |
| 2004 | −31.3% |
| 2008 | −15.4% |
| 2012 | −26.9% |
| 2016 | −34.2% |
| 2020 | −30.5% |
| 2024 | −31.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 5,074 | 9,904 | 15,409 | ||
| R | 4,537 | 8,753 | 13,828 | ||
| R | 3,356 | 7,411 | 11,842 | ||
| R | 3,973 | 7,025 | 11,359 | ||
| R | 4,932 | 6,787 | 12,055 | ||
| R | 3,857 | 7,489 | 11,619 | ||
| D | 6,327 | 2,797 | 9,406 | ||
| R | 3,568 | 4,430 | 9,442 | ||
| R | 3,157 | 3,770 | 9,659 | ||
| R | 3,705 | 5,570 | 9,379 | ||
| R | 2,565 | 5,949 | 8,569 | ||
| R | 2,259 | 5,306 | 8,403 | ||
| R | 3,102 | 4,206 | 7,449 | ||
| R | 2,533 | 4,795 | 7,352 | ||
| R | 2,425 | 4,185 | 6,948 | ||
| R | 3,468 | 3,743 | 7,211 | ||
| R | 2,612 | 5,083 | 7,695 | ||
| R | 1,871 | 4,654 | 6,525 | ||
| R | 1,701 | 5,559 | 7,260 | ||
| R | 2,209 | 3,778 | 6,045 | ||
| R | 1,866 | 3,528 | 5,394 | ||
| R | 3,515 | 5,288 | 8,803 | ||
| R | 3,809 | 4,974 | 8,852 | ||
| R | 3,106 | 3,708 | 6,868 | ||
| R | 1,785 | 4,141 | 5,947 | ||
| R | 649 | 3,255 | 4,580 | ||
| R | 1,201 | 2,986 | 4,359 | ||
| R | 2,074 | 2,157 | 4,365 | ||
| D | 2,412 | 0 | 4,471 | ||
| R | 1,564 | 2,735 | 5,377 | ||
| R | 1,347 | 4,247 | 6,481 | ||
| R | 2,619 | 3,435 | 6,138 | ||
| D | 2,905 | 2,210 | 5,150 | ||
| R | 546 | 2,140 | 4,181 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
32.0%
Irish
13.0%
English
12.0%
American
5.6%
French
1.9%
Scottish
1.9%
Italian
1.8%
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: 44.8 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
$73,384
Lawrence County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Lawrence County$73,384
South Dakota$75,081
United States$80,734
Lawrence 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
11.6%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1812.9%
Working age (18–64)10.9%
Seniors (65+)14.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.3%
speak English only
Spanish2.0%
Other Indo-European1.3%
Other languages0.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 60.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Home to Deadwood and Lead, Lawrence County sits in the Black Hills and has voted Republican by double-digit margins in every recent presidential cycle, reaching R+31 in 2024 despite a tourism-driven economy that draws visitors from across the country.
The Republican margin here reached fifty-seven points in 1924. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty-one points.
A population of 27,233, a 90% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $73,384 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Butte County and Custer 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.
Lawrence County, South Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/46081/. 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 Lawrence County, South Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Lawrence County, South Dakota voted Republican by 31.3 points (R+31), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 15,409 votes cast, 5,074 went Democratic and 9,904 went Republican.
What is Lawrence County, South Dakota's political typology?
Akashic places Lawrence 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 3 times, Republican 31 times, and other 0 times.
When did Lawrence County, South Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Lawrence County, South Dakota voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Lawrence County, South Dakota?
Lawrence County, South Dakota has a population of 27,233 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Lawrence County, South Dakota?
Median household income in Lawrence County, South Dakota is $73,384 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of Lawrence County, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Lawrence County, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 3 went Democratic and 31 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.