Stanley County, South Dakota: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+47%. Republican peak: R+52 in 2016.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+47MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 3,0152024 5-year
- Median household income
- $87,7122024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 88.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+47 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+52 in 2016MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Sully County, SD · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Stanley CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Stanley 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 | −30.3% |
| 1896 | +22.1% |
| 1900 | −0.4% |
| 1904 | −15.7% |
| 1908 | −17.5% |
| 1912 | +47.4% |
| 1916 | −19.1% |
| 1920 | −19.4% |
| 1924 | −23.3% |
| 1928 | −25.5% |
| 1932 | +15.3% |
| 1936 | +11.4% |
| 1940 | −11.3% |
| 1944 | −24.3% |
| 1948 | −18.4% |
| 1952 | −41.3% |
| 1956 | −1.7% |
| 1960 | +3.7% |
| 1964 | +15.5% |
| 1968 | −12.0% |
| 1972 | −22.5% |
| 1976 | −7.5% |
| 1980 | −42.6% |
| 1984 | −45.5% |
| 1988 | −15.3% |
| 1992 | −20.9% |
| 1996 | −24.7% |
| 2000 | +40.0% |
| 2004 | −41.0% |
| 2008 | −32.6% |
| 2012 | −40.8% |
| 2016 | −52.3% |
| 2020 | −47.3% |
| 2024 | −46.9% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 447 | 1,260 | 1,735 | ||
| R | 421 | 1,203 | 1,652 | ||
| R | 329 | 1,148 | 1,567 | ||
| R | 435 | 1,063 | 1,540 | ||
| R | 510 | 1,017 | 1,553 | ||
| R | 464 | 1,129 | 1,623 | ||
| D | 955 | 402 | 1,381 | ||
| R | 454 | 795 | 1,382 | ||
| R | 427 | 719 | 1,399 | ||
| R | 511 | 698 | 1,219 | ||
| R | 351 | 942 | 1,299 | ||
| R | 339 | 892 | 1,299 | ||
| R | 548 | 637 | 1,189 | ||
| R | 492 | 779 | 1,278 | ||
| R | 439 | 572 | 1,109 | ||
| D | 750 | 549 | 1,299 | ||
| D | 730 | 678 | 1,408 | ||
| R | 567 | 587 | 1,154 | ||
| R | 289 | 695 | 984 | ||
| R | 359 | 522 | 887 | ||
| R | 234 | 384 | 618 | ||
| R | 541 | 679 | 1,220 | ||
| D | 629 | 495 | 1,176 | ||
| D | 757 | 553 | 1,336 | ||
| R | 437 | 739 | 1,184 | ||
| R | 249 | 531 | 1,212 | ||
| R | 394 | 598 | 1,053 | ||
| R | 254 | 381 | 664 | ||
| O | 1,051 | 0 | 2,215 | ||
| R | 1,598 | 2,313 | 4,092 | ||
| R | 396 | 547 | 964 | ||
| R | 252 | 254 | 513 | ||
| D | 140 | 89 | 231 | ||
| R | 29 | 76 | 155 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
31.2%
English
10.8%
Irish
7.4%
American
4.4%
Italian
2.6%
Polish
1.4%
Scottish
1.0%
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: 44.5 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
$87,712
Stanley County ranks in the top 10% of US counties.
Stanley County$87,712
South Dakota$75,081
United States$80,734
Stanley County ranks in the top 10% 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
5.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1812.1%
Working age (18–64)3.8%
Seniors (65+)0.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.9%
speak English only
Other Indo-European4.5%
Spanish0.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 53.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Stanley County's vast Missouri River breaks and sparse population of roughly 2,800 produce some of the most one-sided federal election results in the state, with Republicans carrying it by nearly 47 points in 2024.
The Republican margin here reached fifty-two points in 2016. The 2024 margin was forty-seven points.
A population of 3,015, a 88% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $87,712 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Sully County and Harding 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.
Stanley County, South Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/46117/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in South Dakota
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Frequently asked questions
How did Stanley County, South Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Stanley County, South Dakota voted Republican by 46.9 points (R+47), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 1,735 votes cast, 447 went Democratic and 1,260 went Republican.
What is Stanley County, South Dakota's political typology?
Akashic places Stanley 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 27 times, and other 1 times.
When did Stanley County, South Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Stanley County, South Dakota voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Stanley County, South Dakota?
Stanley County, South Dakota has a population of 3,015 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Stanley County, South Dakota?
Median household income in Stanley County, South Dakota is $87,712 — above the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of Stanley County, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Stanley County, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 27 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.