county

Brule County, SD

Demographic and economic profile of Brule County, SD, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Brule County is a small, agriculture-anchored county in south-central South Dakota with a population of 5,261 and essentially flat growth (+0.1% over five years). The labor force is tight—unemployment sits at just 1.6% with a 66.1% participation rate—and 30.2% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while median worker earnings run $40,521 against a median household income of $73,720. Housing costs are low, with a median home value of $205,500 and median gross rent of $700/month, and a mean commute of 15.5 minutes reflects the county's compact, rural character.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

5,261

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$73,720

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

41.5 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+0.1% since 2018

Brule County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone4,342 (82.2%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone541 (10.2%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races281 (5.3%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race72 (1.4%)
  • Black or African American Alone34 (0.6%)
  • Some Other Race Alone13 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.German or other West Germanic79
  2. 2.Spanish64
  3. 3.Other Indo-European23
  4. 4.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)11
  5. 5.Vietnamese10

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

24.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

55.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

171

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$52,333

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$36,063

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

1.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

10.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance775
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining442
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)347
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services316
  5. 5.Construction (Group)138

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations942
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations598
  3. 3.Service Occupations542
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations355
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations158

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 11.95×)512
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.35×)317
  3. 3.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.25×)782
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 0.96×)282
  5. 5.Public Administration (LQ 0.89×)113

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$205,500

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$700/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

76.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999276 (18.5%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999266 (17.8%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999149 (10.0%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999134 (9.0%)
  • $400,000 to $499,999119 (8.0%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999105 (7.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

30.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

90.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

66.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$40,521

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

15.5 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone1,777 (70.5%)
  • Worked At Home313 (12.4%)
  • Carpooled227 (9.0%)
  • Walked153 (6.1%)
  • Other45 (1.8%)
  • Public Transit6 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.