county

Hand County, SD

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

AI Overview

Hand County is a small, agriculture-oriented rural county in central South Dakota with a population of 3,045, down 7.8% over the past five years. The labor force is tight, with a 1.2% unemployment rate and 69.1% participation rate; 26.2% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and median worker earnings sit at $40,542. Housing costs are low—median home value of $152,100 and median gross rent of $553/month—and a GDP per capita of $72,902 against a median household income of $74,635 points to a productive, cost-efficient local economy with a poverty rate of just 6.6%.

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

Population

3,045

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$74,635

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

42.5 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-7.8% since 2018

Hand County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone2,899 (92.3%)
  • Some Other Race Alone104 (3.3%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races53 (1.7%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone45 (1.4%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race21 (0.7%)
  • Black or African American Alone15 (0.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.German or other West Germanic64
  2. 2.Spanish19
  3. 3.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)16
  4. 4.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)11

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

24.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

51.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

24.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

114

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$72,902

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$43,377

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

1.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

6.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining500
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance345
  3. 3.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services104
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services103
  5. 5.Manufacturing (Group)102

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations852
  2. 2.Service Occupations252
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations241
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations233
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations85

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 19.04×)495
  2. 2.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.05×)400
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 0.61×)108
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management (LQ 0.51×)103

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$152,100

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$553/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

65.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $150,000 to $174,999108 (11.7%)
  • $100,000 to $124,99998 (10.7%)
  • $200,000 to $249,99996 (10.4%)
  • $500,000 to $749,99982 (8.9%)
  • $400,000 to $499,99976 (8.3%)
  • $300,000 to $399,99962 (6.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

26.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

95.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

69.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$40,542

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

13.2 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone1,160 (70.9%)
  • Worked At Home179 (10.9%)
  • Walked158 (9.7%)
  • Carpooled129 (7.9%)
  • Motorcycle5 (0.3%)
  • Public Transit3 (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.