Sanborn County, South Dakota: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+55%. Democratic peak: D+73 in 1996.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+55MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 2,3842024 5-year
- Median household income
- $78,7502024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+73 in 1996MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+72 in 2000MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Klickitat County, WA · similarity 0.92
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Sanborn CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Sanborn 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 | −46.3% |
| 1896 | −2.9% |
| 1900 | −6.5% |
| 1904 | −54.7% |
| 1908 | −22.8% |
| 1912 | +37.1% |
| 1916 | −11.0% |
| 1920 | −27.0% |
| 1924 | −34.3% |
| 1928 | −8.8% |
| 1932 | +46.9% |
| 1936 | +23.3% |
| 1940 | −10.7% |
| 1944 | −9.7% |
| 1948 | +2.7% |
| 1952 | −32.1% |
| 1956 | −1.0% |
| 1960 | −0.2% |
| 1964 | +21.1% |
| 1968 | −3.3% |
| 1972 | +0.5% |
| 1976 | +7.5% |
| 1980 | −28.5% |
| 1984 | −27.7% |
| 1988 | −2.8% |
| 1992 | +63.1% |
| 1996 | +73.2% |
| 2000 | −72.5% |
| 2004 | −16.5% |
| 2008 | −14.0% |
| 2012 | −26.8% |
| 2016 | −51.5% |
| 2020 | −54.7% |
| 2024 | −55.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 259 | 929 | 1,212 | ||
| R | 257 | 905 | 1,185 | ||
| R | 241 | 819 | 1,123 | ||
| R | 389 | 688 | 1,115 | ||
| R | 500 | 669 | 1,207 | ||
| R | 581 | 817 | 1,426 | ||
| R | 252 | 1,667 | 1,953 | ||
| D | 1,926 | 253 | 2,284 | ||
| D | 1,267 | 225 | 1,651 | ||
| R | 770 | 815 | 1,595 | ||
| R | 611 | 1,080 | 1,695 | ||
| R | 628 | 1,178 | 1,932 | ||
| D | 1,025 | 881 | 1,912 | ||
| D | 1,074 | 1,064 | 2,145 | ||
| R | 956 | 1,024 | 2,060 | ||
| D | 1,401 | 912 | 2,313 | ||
| R | 1,249 | 1,254 | 2,503 | ||
| R | 1,302 | 1,327 | 2,629 | ||
| R | 905 | 1,761 | 2,666 | ||
| D | 1,046 | 990 | 2,061 | ||
| R | 998 | 1,212 | 2,210 | ||
| R | 1,398 | 1,732 | 3,130 | ||
| D | 1,919 | 1,174 | 3,204 | ||
| D | 2,398 | 860 | 3,281 | ||
| R | 1,321 | 1,576 | 2,914 | ||
| R | 327 | 1,184 | 2,501 | ||
| R | 517 | 1,125 | 2,255 | ||
| R | 711 | 898 | 1,693 | ||
| O | 577 | 0 | 1,554 | ||
| R | 513 | 847 | 1,468 | ||
| R | 265 | 1,013 | 1,368 | ||
| R | 549 | 628 | 1,218 | ||
| R | 500 | 530 | 1,045 | ||
| R | 95 | 564 | 1,014 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
41.9%
Irish
12.0%
English
7.2%
American
7.0%
French
2.2%
Polish
1.7%
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: 40.1 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
$78,750
Sanborn County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Sanborn County$78,750
South Dakota$75,081
United States$80,734
Sanborn 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
8.5%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 186.8%
Working age (18–64)8.1%
Seniors (65+)21.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.1%
speak English only
Spanish2.2%
Other Indo-European1.9%
Other languages0.8%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 43.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Sanborn County's roughly 2,700 residents make it one of South Dakota's least-populous jurisdictions, yet its presidential margins have run consistently above R+50 for over a decade, reflecting the heavily rural, agricultural character of the James River lowlands.
The Republican margin here reached seventy-two points in 2000. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-five points.
A population of 2,384, a 93% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $78,750 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Klickitat County and Tyrrell 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.
Sanborn County, South Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/46111/. 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 Sanborn County, South Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Sanborn County, South Dakota voted Republican by 55.3 points (R+55), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 1,212 votes cast, 259 went Democratic and 929 went Republican.
What is Sanborn County, South Dakota's political typology?
Akashic places Sanborn 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 8 times, Republican 25 times, and other 1 times.
When did Sanborn County, South Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Sanborn County, South Dakota voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Sanborn County, South Dakota?
Sanborn County, South Dakota has a population of 2,384 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Sanborn County, South Dakota?
Median household income in Sanborn County, South Dakota is $78,750 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of Sanborn County, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Sanborn County, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 8 went Democratic and 25 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.