McCook County, South Dakota: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+49%. Republican peak: R+56 in 1956.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+49MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 5,7512024 5-year
- Median household income
- $83,8522024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 93.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+45 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+56 in 1956MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Yancey County, NC · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of McCook CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for McCook County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
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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 | −20.3% |
| 1896 | +21.2% |
| 1900 | +0.6% |
| 1904 | −29.0% |
| 1908 | −18.1% |
| 1912 | +44.6% |
| 1916 | +7.6% |
| 1920 | −42.2% |
| 1924 | −29.5% |
| 1928 | −11.9% |
| 1932 | +32.7% |
| 1936 | +8.6% |
| 1940 | −32.2% |
| 1944 | −36.8% |
| 1948 | −19.5% |
| 1952 | −45.3% |
| 1956 | −55.7% |
| 1960 | −13.9% |
| 1964 | +10.8% |
| 1968 | −8.1% |
| 1972 | +0.8% |
| 1976 | +2.2% |
| 1980 | −22.3% |
| 1984 | −13.5% |
| 1988 | −0.3% |
| 1992 | −0.3% |
| 1996 | −4.6% |
| 2000 | +24.5% |
| 2004 | −6.0% |
| 2008 | −14.5% |
| 2012 | −28.7% |
| 2016 | −45.3% |
| 2020 | −44.8% |
| 2024 | −49.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 733 | 2,227 | 3,031 | ||
| R | 769 | 2,068 | 2,900 | ||
| R | 623 | 1,794 | 2,587 | ||
| R | 905 | 1,655 | 2,613 | ||
| R | 1,219 | 1,646 | 2,945 | ||
| R | 1,099 | 1,242 | 2,364 | ||
| D | 1,610 | 965 | 2,631 | ||
| R | 1,166 | 1,292 | 2,723 | ||
| R | 1,167 | 1,177 | 2,984 | ||
| R | 1,492 | 1,501 | 3,002 | ||
| R | 1,448 | 1,902 | 3,362 | ||
| R | 1,223 | 2,014 | 3,544 | ||
| D | 1,822 | 1,744 | 3,578 | ||
| D | 1,993 | 1,963 | 3,963 | ||
| R | 1,653 | 1,959 | 3,800 | ||
| D | 2,181 | 1,756 | 3,937 | ||
| R | 1,797 | 2,375 | 4,172 | ||
| R | 633 | 2,225 | 2,858 | ||
| R | 1,127 | 2,991 | 4,118 | ||
| R | 1,387 | 2,064 | 3,471 | ||
| R | 1,163 | 2,516 | 3,679 | ||
| R | 1,696 | 3,310 | 5,006 | ||
| D | 2,536 | 2,117 | 4,851 | ||
| D | 2,884 | 1,436 | 4,422 | ||
| R | 1,758 | 2,234 | 4,005 | ||
| R | 457 | 1,368 | 3,090 | ||
| R | 565 | 1,864 | 3,080 | ||
| D | 1,194 | 1,021 | 2,288 | ||
| O | 962 | 0 | 2,155 | ||
| R | 826 | 1,209 | 2,121 | ||
| R | 693 | 1,284 | 2,038 | ||
| D | 989 | 978 | 1,993 | ||
| D | 1,047 | 678 | 1,737 | ||
| O | 262 | 573 | 1,534 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
45.4%
Irish
12.8%
American
6.5%
English
5.1%
French
3.8%
Italian
0.9%
Scottish
0.7%
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: 39.5 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
$83,852
McCook County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
McCook County$83,852
South Dakota$75,081
United States$80,734
McCook 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
6.8%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 186.6%
Working age (18–64)5.5%
Seniors (65+)23.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.2%
speak English only
Other Indo-European2.2%
Spanish1.5%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 39.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
McCook County's R+49.3 margin in 2024 reflects the heavily rural, agricultural character typical of southeast South Dakota, where small towns and dispersed farm households have voted consistently Republican by wide margins for decades.
The Republican margin here reached fifty-six points in 1956. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-nine points.
A population of 5,751, a 93% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $83,852 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Yancey County and Charles Mix 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.
McCook County, South Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/46087/. 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 McCook County, South Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, McCook County, South Dakota voted Republican by 49.3 points (R+49), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 3,031 votes cast, 733 went Democratic and 2,227 went Republican.
What is McCook County, South Dakota's political typology?
Akashic places McCook 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 9 times, Republican 23 times, and other 2 times.
When did McCook County, South Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which McCook County, South Dakota voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in McCook County, South Dakota?
McCook County, South Dakota has a population of 5,751 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in McCook County, South Dakota?
Median household income in McCook County, South Dakota is $83,852 — above the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of McCook County, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in McCook County, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 9 went Democratic and 23 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.