Data / Rankings / Bachelor's degree or higher, population 25 and over / Counties in South Dakota

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

Clay County had the highest share of adults with a bachelor's degree of 66 counties in 2021, at 45.9%. Buffalo County had the lowest, at 6.9%. The median was 23.2% and the figure for South Dakota was 30%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest45.9Clay County
Lowest6.9Buffalo County
Median23.266 counties
South Dakota30History

Top 40 counties, 2021

CSVChart (SVG)

Clay CountyClay County: 45.9 %45.9Brookings CountyBrookings County: 43 %43Lincoln CountyLincoln County: 41.3 %41.3Jones CountyJones County: 38.6 %38.6Hughes CountyHughes County: 34.5 %34.5Lawrence CountyLawrence County: 34.5 %34.5Union CountyUnion County: 34.4 %34.4Minnehaha CountyMinnehaha County: 33.5 %33.5Pennington CountyPennington County: 33.3 %33.3Lake CountyLake County: 33 %33Brown CountyBrown County: 32.4 %32.4Stanley CountyStanley County: 29 %29Marshall CountyMarshall County: 28.1 %28.1Meade CountyMeade County: 27.9 %27.9Campbell CountyCampbell County: 27.2 %27.2Custer CountyCuster County: 26.7 %26.7Moody CountyMoody County: 26.7 %26.7Yankton CountyYankton County: 26.5 %26.5Spink CountySpink County: 26.5 %26.5Turner CountyTurner County: 25.9 %25.9Lyman CountyLyman County: 25.8 %25.8McCook CountyMcCook County: 25.7 %25.7Hutchinson CountyHutchinson County: 25.3 %25.3Faulk CountyFaulk County: 25.3 %25.3Walworth CountyWalworth County: 25.1 %25.1Hand CountyHand County: 25 %25Edmunds CountyEdmunds County: 24.7 %24.7Grant CountyGrant County: 24.7 %24.7Brule CountyBrule County: 24.6 %24.6Potter CountyPotter County: 24.4 %24.4Kingsbury CountyKingsbury County: 24 %24Beadle CountyBeadle County: 23.9 %23.9Deuel CountyDeuel County: 23.3 %23.3Harding CountyHarding County: 23.1 %23.1Bon Homme CountyBon Homme County: 22.8 %22.8Davison CountyDavison County: 22.8 %22.8Charles Mix CountyCharles Mix County: 22.4 %22.4Fall River CountyFall River County: 22.1 %22.1McPherson CountyMcPherson County: 21.6 %21.6Day CountyDay County: 21.2 %21.2
%. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

Full ranking

RankCounties2021 (%)
1Clay County45.9
2Brookings County43
3Lincoln County41.3
4Jones County38.6
5Hughes County34.5
6Lawrence County34.5
7Union County34.4
8Minnehaha County33.5
9Pennington County33.3
10Lake County33
11Brown County32.4
12Stanley County29
13Marshall County28.1
14Meade County27.9
15Campbell County27.2
16Custer County26.7
17Moody County26.7
18Yankton County26.5
19Spink County26.5
20Turner County25.9
21Lyman County25.8
22McCook County25.7
23Hutchinson County25.3
24Faulk County25.3
25Walworth County25.1
26Hand County25
27Edmunds County24.7
27Grant County24.7
29Brule County24.6
30Potter County24.4
31Kingsbury County24
32Beadle County23.9
33Deuel County23.3
34Harding County23.1
35Bon Homme County22.8
36Davison County22.8
37Charles Mix County22.4
38Fall River County22.1
39McPherson County21.6
40Day County21.2
41Hamlin County21.2
42Perkins County20.9
43Sully County20.8
44Butte County20.3
45Codington County20.3
46Bennett County20.2
47Douglas County19.8
48Jerauld County19.4
49Tripp County19.2
50Clark County19.2
51Gregory County19.1
52Aurora County18.3
53Hanson County18.2
54Miner County17.3
55Sanborn County17.2
56Dewey County17.1
57Hyde County16.8
58Roberts County16.1
59Haakon County16
60Corson County15.5
61Mellette County14.6
62Ziebach County14.6
63Jackson County14.2
64Todd County13.3
65Oglala Lakota County10.4
66Buffalo County6.9

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/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b15003.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

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Questions

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

Clay County, with 45.9% in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Buffalo County, with 6.9% in 2021.

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