Counties in South Dakota by share of adults with a bachelor's degree, 2024

Clay County had the highest share of adults with a bachelor's degree of 66 counties in 2024, at 45.4%. Buffalo County had the lowest, at 9.9%. The median was 25.2% and the figure for South Dakota was 31.9%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest45.4Clay County
Median25.266 counties
South Dakota31.9History

Top 40 counties, 2024

CSVChart (SVG)

Clay CountyClay County: 45.4 %45.4Lincoln CountyLincoln County: 44.5 %44.5Brookings CountyBrookings County: 42.5 %42.5Hughes CountyHughes County: 39.1 %39.1Union CountyUnion County: 37 %37Campbell CountyCampbell County: 36 %36Minnehaha CountyMinnehaha County: 35.2 %35.2Pennington CountyPennington County: 34.6 %34.6Lake CountyLake County: 34.6 %34.6Brown CountyBrown County: 33.8 %33.8Lawrence CountyLawrence County: 32.9 %32.9Custer CountyCuster County: 31.6 %31.6Yankton CountyYankton County: 31.4 %31.4Moody CountyMoody County: 30.4 %30.4Harding CountyHarding County: 30.4 %30.4McCook CountyMcCook County: 29.9 %29.9Walworth CountyWalworth County: 29.6 %29.6Fall River CountyFall River County: 29.4 %29.4Hutchinson CountyHutchinson County: 28.8 %28.8Brule CountyBrule County: 28.7 %28.7Hand CountyHand County: 28.4 %28.4Edmunds CountyEdmunds County: 28.3 %28.3Stanley CountyStanley County: 28.2 %28.2Spink CountySpink County: 28.2 %28.2Meade CountyMeade County: 27.8 %27.8Jones CountyJones County: 27.4 %27.4Turner CountyTurner County: 27.3 %27.3Potter CountyPotter County: 27.2 %27.2Beadle CountyBeadle County: 27.2 %27.2McPherson CountyMcPherson County: 26.5 %26.5Charles Mix CountyCharles Mix County: 25.7 %25.7Marshall CountyMarshall County: 25.4 %25.4Grant CountyGrant County: 25.3 %25.3Deuel CountyDeuel County: 25.1 %25.1Douglas CountyDouglas County: 25 %25Perkins CountyPerkins County: 24.9 %24.9Lyman CountyLyman County: 24.6 %24.6Hamlin CountyHamlin County: 24.5 %24.5Sully CountySully County: 24.1 %24.1Kingsbury CountyKingsbury County: 23.1 %23.1
%. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

Full ranking

RankCounties2024 (%)Change on 2023
1Clay County45.4-0.6 pts
2Lincoln County44.5+2 pts
3Brookings County42.5-1.5 pts
4Hughes County39.1+3.1 pts
5Union County37+0.5 pts
6Campbell County36+6.5 pts
7Minnehaha County35.2+0.6 pts
8Pennington County34.6+0.6 pts
9Lake County34.6-0 pts
10Brown County33.8+0.6 pts
11Lawrence County32.9-1.2 pts
12Custer County31.6-0.5 pts
13Yankton County31.4+3.8 pts
14Moody County30.4-0.6 pts
15Harding County30.40 pts
16McCook County29.9+1.3 pts
17Walworth County29.6-1.5 pts
18Fall River County29.4+7.2 pts
19Hutchinson County28.8+3.1 pts
20Brule County28.7-1.5 pts
21Hand County28.4+2.2 pts
22Edmunds County28.3-1.3 pts
23Stanley County28.2+2.9 pts
24Spink County28.2+1.1 pts
25Meade County27.8+0.9 pts
26Jones County27.4+2 pts
27Turner County27.3+1.1 pts
28Potter County27.2+0.6 pts
29Beadle County27.2+0.8 pts
30McPherson County26.5+4 pts
31Charles Mix County25.7+0.6 pts
32Marshall County25.4+3 pts
33Grant County25.3-0.2 pts
34Deuel County25.1+0.9 pts
35Douglas County25+2 pts
36Perkins County24.9+3.1 pts
37Lyman County24.6-0.7 pts
38Hamlin County24.50 pts
39Sully County24.1+3.1 pts
40Kingsbury County23.1+0.8 pts
41Faulk County22.6+4.4 pts
42Davison County22.6-2.3 pts
43Hanson County22.5+1 pts
44Gregory County22.2+1.2 pts
45Day County22+0.7 pts
46Haakon County21.6+2 pts
47Aurora County21.4+2.7 pts
48Codington County21.4+0.5 pts
49Jerauld County21.4+0.2 pts
50Sanborn County21.3+2.1 pts
51Hyde County20.3-0.8 pts
52Butte County19.9+0.5 pts
53Clark County19.7+3.5 pts
54Bon Homme County19.6-0.5 pts
55Mellette County19.2+2.8 pts
56Corson County19-0.3 pts
57Dewey County18.8+1.5 pts
58Roberts County18.6+0.3 pts
59Bennett County18.3-2 pts
60Tripp County17.7-2.2 pts
61Miner County16.7+0.6 pts
62Todd County16.60 pts
63Ziebach County15.2+1.2 pts
64Jackson County12.4+1 pts
65Oglala Lakota County11.8+2 pts
66Buffalo County9.9+2.9 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

People aged 25 and over whose highest degree is a bachelor's, master's, professional school or doctorate degree, as a percentage of all people aged 25 and over. United States: American Community Survey five-year estimate, where the period shown is the last year of the five-year span.

Excludes associate degrees and college without a degree. Not comparable with EU tertiary attainment, which includes short-cycle tertiary education and usually covers ages 25 to 64. Calculated from counts in ACS table B15003, which are stored as inputs.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B15003: population 25 years and over with a bachelor's degree or higher as a percentage of the population 25 years and over, calculated with stored inputs. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b15003.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Counties in South Dakota by share of adults with a bachelor's degree using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"bachelors_degree_share","level":"province","within":"South Dakota","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=bachelors_degree_share&level=province&within=South%20Dakota&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest share of adults with a bachelor's degree?

Clay County, with 45.4% in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest share of adults with a bachelor's degree?

Buffalo County, with 9.9% in 2024.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B15003: population 25 years and over with a bachelor's degree or higher as a percentage of the population 25 years and over, calculated with stored inputs. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

Bachelor's degree or higher, population 25 and over: other rankings

Counties in South Dakota: more rankings