Union County, South Dakota: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+41%. Democratic peak: D+43 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+41MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 17,0812024 5-year
- Median household income
- $89,6362024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 90.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+43 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+41 in 1904MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Brule County, SD · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Union CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Union 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 | −31.2% |
| 1896 | +6.9% |
| 1900 | −7.2% |
| 1904 | −40.8% |
| 1908 | −15.6% |
| 1912 | +39.1% |
| 1916 | −8.3% |
| 1920 | −37.5% |
| 1924 | −21.3% |
| 1928 | −6.8% |
| 1932 | +43.4% |
| 1936 | +29.0% |
| 1940 | −8.9% |
| 1944 | −9.7% |
| 1948 | +0.7% |
| 1952 | −34.7% |
| 1956 | −5.9% |
| 1960 | −7.1% |
| 1964 | +24.2% |
| 1968 | −4.4% |
| 1972 | +5.8% |
| 1976 | +5.0% |
| 1980 | −19.0% |
| 1984 | −4.5% |
| 1988 | +15.5% |
| 1992 | +8.4% |
| 1996 | +2.8% |
| 2000 | +15.7% |
| 2004 | −14.0% |
| 2008 | −13.8% |
| 2012 | −25.2% |
| 2016 | −38.8% |
| 2020 | −36.4% |
| 2024 | −40.7% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,548 | 6,160 | 8,876 | ||
| R | 2,725 | 5,944 | 8,855 | ||
| R | 2,227 | 5,290 | 7,897 | ||
| R | 2,782 | 4,698 | 7,596 | ||
| R | 3,244 | 4,310 | 7,701 | ||
| R | 3,000 | 3,987 | 7,048 | ||
| D | 3,265 | 2,358 | 5,772 | ||
| D | 2,378 | 2,234 | 5,207 | ||
| D | 2,210 | 1,784 | 5,097 | ||
| D | 2,612 | 1,907 | 4,550 | ||
| R | 2,221 | 2,431 | 4,677 | ||
| R | 1,830 | 2,788 | 5,054 | ||
| D | 2,540 | 2,297 | 4,860 | ||
| D | 2,554 | 2,271 | 4,842 | ||
| R | 2,014 | 2,212 | 4,451 | ||
| D | 2,828 | 1,727 | 4,555 | ||
| R | 2,331 | 2,688 | 5,019 | ||
| R | 2,343 | 2,636 | 4,979 | ||
| R | 1,645 | 3,393 | 5,038 | ||
| D | 2,237 | 2,205 | 4,465 | ||
| R | 2,057 | 2,501 | 4,558 | ||
| R | 2,608 | 3,116 | 5,724 | ||
| D | 3,520 | 1,845 | 5,785 | ||
| D | 3,530 | 1,381 | 4,957 | ||
| R | 2,106 | 2,415 | 4,540 | ||
| R | 877 | 1,665 | 3,697 | ||
| R | 841 | 1,942 | 2,935 | ||
| R | 1,108 | 1,313 | 2,465 | ||
| O | 965 | 0 | 2,469 | ||
| R | 1,009 | 1,392 | 2,458 | ||
| R | 730 | 1,813 | 2,654 | ||
| R | 1,358 | 1,571 | 2,964 | ||
| D | 1,491 | 1,297 | 2,805 | ||
| O | 241 | 860 | 1,986 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
34.7%
Irish
14.2%
English
8.2%
American
4.9%
French
4.5%
Polish
1.9%
Scottish
1.4%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
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: 41.5 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
$89,636
Union County ranks in the top 10% of US counties.
Union County$89,636
South Dakota$75,081
United States$80,734
Union 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
6.2%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 183.3%
Working age (18–64)6.0%
Seniors (65+)17.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.0%
speak English only
Spanish1.5%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 66.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Union County sits at South Dakota's southeastern tip where the Big Sioux meets the Missouri, with Elk Point as its seat. Despite proximity to Sioux City's metro influence, it has returned Republican presidential margins above 35 points in recent cycles.
The Republican margin here reached forty-one points in 1904. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-one points.
A population of 17,081, a 90% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $89,636 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Brule County and Alleghany 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.
Union County, South Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/46127/. 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 Union County, South Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Union County, South Dakota voted Republican by 40.7 points (R+41), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 8,876 votes cast, 2,548 went Democratic and 6,160 went Republican.
What is Union County, South Dakota's political typology?
Akashic places Union 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 11 times, Republican 21 times, and other 2 times.
When did Union County, South Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Union County, South Dakota voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Union County, South Dakota?
Union County, South Dakota has a population of 17,081 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Union County, South Dakota?
Median household income in Union County, South Dakota is $89,636 — above the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of Union County, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Union County, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 11 went Democratic and 21 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.