Meade County, South Dakota: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+51%. Republican peak: R+54 in 2016.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+51MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 30,5462024 5-year
- Median household income
- $74,7902024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 86.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+49 in 2000MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+54 in 2016MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Butte County, SD · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Meade CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Meade 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 | −25.6% |
| 1896 | +17.8% |
| 1900 | +1.3% |
| 1904 | −42.4% |
| 1908 | −8.7% |
| 1912 | +43.7% |
| 1916 | −16.3% |
| 1920 | −30.8% |
| 1924 | −34.9% |
| 1928 | −32.6% |
| 1932 | +20.7% |
| 1936 | +5.2% |
| 1940 | −14.0% |
| 1944 | −24.3% |
| 1948 | −9.9% |
| 1952 | −40.0% |
| 1956 | −19.6% |
| 1960 | −15.8% |
| 1964 | +4.1% |
| 1968 | −20.4% |
| 1972 | −35.1% |
| 1976 | −10.9% |
| 1980 | −48.1% |
| 1984 | −47.4% |
| 1988 | −23.3% |
| 1992 | −20.1% |
| 1996 | −22.1% |
| 2000 | +49.1% |
| 2004 | −47.0% |
| 2008 | −32.4% |
| 2012 | −42.9% |
| 2016 | −53.5% |
| 2020 | −48.2% |
| 2024 | −50.9% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 3,421 | 10,887 | 14,672 | ||
| R | 3,285 | 9,875 | 13,670 | ||
| R | 2,223 | 8,441 | 11,621 | ||
| R | 2,928 | 7,566 | 10,817 | ||
| R | 3,751 | 7,515 | 11,606 | ||
| R | 2,941 | 8,347 | 11,504 | ||
| D | 6,870 | 2,267 | 9,366 | ||
| R | 2,960 | 4,984 | 9,176 | ||
| R | 2,694 | 4,724 | 10,075 | ||
| R | 3,212 | 5,189 | 8,473 | ||
| R | 2,093 | 5,908 | 8,041 | ||
| R | 1,721 | 5,349 | 7,541 | ||
| R | 2,478 | 3,096 | 5,690 | ||
| R | 1,633 | 3,416 | 5,080 | ||
| R | 1,522 | 2,392 | 4,257 | ||
| D | 2,323 | 2,140 | 4,463 | ||
| R | 1,923 | 2,644 | 4,567 | ||
| R | 1,658 | 2,467 | 4,125 | ||
| R | 1,334 | 3,109 | 4,443 | ||
| R | 1,681 | 2,053 | 3,769 | ||
| R | 1,164 | 1,912 | 3,076 | ||
| R | 1,931 | 2,560 | 4,491 | ||
| D | 2,304 | 2,064 | 4,616 | ||
| D | 2,687 | 1,735 | 4,608 | ||
| R | 1,441 | 2,845 | 4,308 | ||
| R | 786 | 2,006 | 3,493 | ||
| R | 894 | 1,894 | 3,245 | ||
| R | 858 | 1,224 | 2,243 | ||
| O | 975 | 0 | 2,230 | ||
| R | 792 | 953 | 1,860 | ||
| R | 268 | 754 | 1,146 | ||
| D | 565 | 550 | 1,125 | ||
| D | 807 | 562 | 1,373 | ||
| O | 128 | 427 | 1,168 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
30.7%
Irish
11.3%
English
8.3%
American
4.6%
Polish
2.8%
Italian
2.1%
French
1.8%
African American
1.7%
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: 37.3 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
$74,790
Meade County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Meade County$74,790
South Dakota$75,081
United States$80,734
Meade 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
7.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 186.6%
Working age (18–64)7.1%
Seniors (65+)8.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.6%
speak English only
Spanish1.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.9%
Other Indo-European0.5%
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 64.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Meade County, home to Ellsworth Air Force Base and vast ranch lands west of the Missouri River, has delivered Republican presidential margins above 50 points for multiple cycles, reflecting a heavily rural, military-adjacent electorate with little urban counterweight.
The Republican margin here reached fifty-four points in 2016. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-one points.
A population of 30,546, a 86% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $74,790 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.
Meade County, South Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/46093/. 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 Meade County, South Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Meade County, South Dakota voted Republican by 50.9 points (R+51), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 14,672 votes cast, 3,421 went Democratic and 10,887 went Republican.
What is Meade County, South Dakota's political typology?
Akashic places Meade 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 6 times, Republican 26 times, and other 2 times.
When did Meade County, South Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Meade County, South Dakota voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Meade County, South Dakota?
Meade County, South Dakota has a population of 30,546 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Meade County, South Dakota?
Median household income in Meade County, South Dakota is $74,790 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of Meade County, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Meade County, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.