Ranking of South Dakota Counties By Population with German Ancestry in 2021

Updated on April 16, 2025.

Based on the US Census ACS-5Yrs estimates, in 2021, there were 307.04K people in South Dakota with German ancestry. Among all South Dakota counties, Minnehaha County had the highest population with German ancestry (66.96K), followed by Pennington County (32.97K), and Lincoln County (22.45K).

The chart and table below shows the top 10 counties with high number of people with German ancestry.

You can see similar information for other states and for other ancestry groups in South Dakota.

Data Source: US Census Bureau.
Ranking of South Dakota Counties By Population with German Ancestry in 2021
Minnehaha County
Pennington County
Lincoln County
Brown County
Brookings County
Codington County
Meade County
Lawrence County
Yankton County
Davison County
Ranking of South Dakota Counties By Population with German Ancestry in 2021
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Rank County Population
1 Minnehaha County 66957
2 Pennington County 32974
3 Lincoln County 22453
4 Brown County 17005
5 Brookings County 13885
6 Codington County 11847
7 Meade County 9634
8 Lawrence County 8816
9 Yankton County 8356
10 Davison County 7383
11 Beadle County 6801
12 Hughes County 6360
13 Clay County 5410
14 Union County 5065
15 Lake County 4716
16 Hutchinson County 4421
17 Grant County 4019
18 Turner County 3588
19 Custer County 2918
20 Spink County 2823
21 Roberts County 2770
22 McCook County 2766
23 Butte County 2721
24 Bon Homme County 2708
25 Walworth County 2676
26 Fall River County 2508
27 Edmunds County 2297
28 Charles Mix County 2203
29 Tripp County 2177
30 Day County 2099
31 Moody County 2077
32 Kingsbury County 2015
33 Hamlin County 1905
34 Deuel County 1865
35 Gregory County 1719
36 Marshall County 1714
37 Brule County 1575
38 Hanson County 1523
39 Clark County 1501
40 Hand County 1435
41 McPherson County 1325
42 Faulk County 1300
43 Perkins County 1265
44 Stanley County 1217
45 Douglas County 1144
46 Sanborn County 1125
47 Potter County 1111
48 Aurora County 1107
49 Campbell County 1044
50 Lyman County 886
51 Miner County 880
52 Jerauld County 753
53 Haakon County 723
54 Corson County 716
55 Hyde County 648
56 Bennett County 633
57 Dewey County 622
58 Sully County 508
59 Oglala Lakota County 417
60 Jackson County 382
61 Mellette County 330
62 Harding County 322
63 Todd County 273
64 Ziebach County 268
65 Jones County 252
66 Buffalo County 108