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 2023, at 46%. Buffalo County had the lowest, at 7%. The median was 24.3% and the figure for South Dakota was 31.1%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Top 40 counties, 2023
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2023 (%) | Change on 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clay County | 46 | +5.9 pts |
| 2 | Brookings County | 44 | +1.5 pts |
| 3 | Lincoln County | 42.5 | +0.7 pts |
| 4 | Union County | 36.5 | +1.1 pts |
| 5 | Hughes County | 35.9 | +0.5 pts |
| 6 | Lake County | 34.7 | +0.1 pts |
| 7 | Minnehaha County | 34.6 | +0.4 pts |
| 8 | Lawrence County | 34.1 | -2.6 pts |
| 9 | Pennington County | 34.1 | +0.7 pts |
| 10 | Brown County | 33.2 | +0.4 pts |
| 11 | Custer County | 32.1 | +1.6 pts |
| 12 | Walworth County | 31.1 | +3.4 pts |
| 13 | Moody County | 31 | +4 pts |
| 14 | Harding County | 30.4 | +3 pts |
| 15 | Brule County | 30.2 | +4.4 pts |
| 16 | Campbell County | 29.6 | +1.2 pts |
| 17 | Edmunds County | 29.5 | +1.4 pts |
| 18 | McCook County | 28.7 | +1 pts |
| 19 | Yankton County | 27.7 | +0.4 pts |
| 20 | Spink County | 27.1 | +2.1 pts |
| 21 | Meade County | 26.9 | -0.5 pts |
| 22 | Potter County | 26.6 | +2.3 pts |
| 23 | Beadle County | 26.4 | +0.9 pts |
| 24 | Hand County | 26.2 | +0.9 pts |
| 25 | Turner County | 26.2 | -0.2 pts |
| 26 | Hutchinson County | 25.7 | -0.1 pts |
| 27 | Grant County | 25.5 | +1.1 pts |
| 28 | Stanley County | 25.4 | -1.5 pts |
| 29 | Jones County | 25.4 | -8.5 pts |
| 30 | Lyman County | 25.3 | +2.1 pts |
| 31 | Charles Mix County | 25.1 | +0.4 pts |
| 32 | Davison County | 25 | +1.7 pts |
| 33 | Hamlin County | 24.5 | +2.6 pts |
| 34 | Deuel County | 24.1 | +0.4 pts |
| 35 | Douglas County | 22.9 | +2.3 pts |
| 36 | Marshall County | 22.5 | -0.9 pts |
| 37 | McPherson County | 22.4 | +1.9 pts |
| 38 | Kingsbury County | 22.3 | -0.7 pts |
| 39 | Fall River County | 22.2 | +2.3 pts |
| 40 | Perkins County | 21.8 | +1.5 pts |
| 41 | Hanson County | 21.6 | +0.4 pts |
| 42 | Day County | 21.3 | -1.1 pts |
| 43 | Jerauld County | 21.1 | +4.3 pts |
| 44 | Hyde County | 21.1 | +0.8 pts |
| 45 | Gregory County | 21 | +1.8 pts |
| 46 | Sully County | 20.9 | -0.6 pts |
| 47 | Codington County | 20.9 | +0.7 pts |
| 48 | Bennett County | 20.3 | +1.9 pts |
| 49 | Bon Homme County | 20.1 | -0 pts |
| 50 | Tripp County | 19.9 | +2.8 pts |
| 51 | Haakon County | 19.6 | +2.9 pts |
| 52 | Butte County | 19.4 | +1.2 pts |
| 53 | Corson County | 19.2 | +2.1 pts |
| 53 | Sanborn County | 19.2 | -0.7 pts |
| 55 | Aurora County | 18.7 | +0.5 pts |
| 56 | Faulk County | 18.3 | -3.9 pts |
| 56 | Roberts County | 18.3 | +1.7 pts |
| 58 | Dewey County | 17.3 | -0.6 pts |
| 59 | Todd County | 16.6 | +1.8 pts |
| 60 | Mellette County | 16.3 | +4.4 pts |
| 61 | Clark County | 16.2 | -2.4 pts |
| 62 | Miner County | 16.1 | -0.4 pts |
| 63 | Ziebach County | 14.1 | -0.8 pts |
| 64 | Jackson County | 11.4 | -4.2 pts |
| 65 | Oglala Lakota County | 9.8 | +1.6 pts |
| 66 | Buffalo County | 7 | +0.2 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/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b15003.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
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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
Questions
Which county has the highest share of adults with a bachelor's degree?
Clay County, with 46% in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which county has the lowest share of adults with a bachelor's degree?
Buffalo County, with 7% in 2023.
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
- US states
- US counties
- Counties in Texas
- Counties in Georgia
- Counties in Virginia
- Counties in Kentucky
- Counties in Missouri
- Counties in Kansas
- Counties in Illinois
- Counties in North Carolina
- Counties in Iowa
- Counties in Tennessee
Counties in South Dakota: more rankings
- Asian population share
- Live births, July to June
- Black or African American population share
- Crude birth rate, July to June
- Crude death rate, July to June
- Deaths, July to June
- Foreign-born population share
- Real GDP growth
- GDP per capita, US dollars
- Gross domestic product (GDP), US dollars
- Hispanic or Latino population share
- Homeownership rate (US, housing units)
- Median age
- Median gross rent (monthly)
- Median home value
- Median household income