Official Federal Data
Lincoln County, South Dakota
Sioux Falls, SD-MN · Population 70,638
9 Sources
Updated September 10, 2026
$99,166 up from the baseline named below
Median Income (nominal) vs 2019
$80,734 national
1.8% up from the baseline named below
Unemployment vs 2024
4.3% national
$8.8B down from the baseline named below
GDP (nominal) real change vs 2023
44.4% up from the baseline named below
Bachelor's+ vs 2019
35.7% national
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household (nominal)
$99,166 up from 2019 vs 2019
Per Capita
$52,585 up from 2019 vs 2019
Mean Household
$132,275 up from 2019 vs 2019
Median Household (cost-of-living adjusted)
$109,455 metro RPP 90.6
Poverty Rate
5.6% up from 2019 vs 2019
Median Income Comparison
Lincoln County$99,166
South Dakota$75,081
National$80,734
Cost-of-living adjustment uses the BEA all-items regional price parity for Sioux Falls, SD-MN, 90.6 against a national average of 100 (2024). BEA publishes regional price parity at state and metropolitan level only; there is no county figure, so the metro index stands in for Lincoln County and the adjusted median is an approximation. Per capita and mean household income above are nominal and carry no adjustment.
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B01001, B02001, B03003
CohortsShare of total population
Under 18 · 26.5%
18-34 · 21.9%
35-54 · 26.5%
55-64 · 10.4%
65+ · 14.7%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
96.5%
High School+
National: 89.6%
up from national +6.9 pts vs national
44.4%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
up from national +8.7 pts vs national
14.5%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
up from national +0.4 pts vs national
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
70,638
Population
40,759
Labor Force
Employed
40,074
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
1.8% up from 2024 +0.3 pts vs 2024
Mean Commute 7 min below national avg
19.3 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
12.3%
Labor Force and Employed are ACS 5-Year survey estimates; the Unemployment Rate above comes from BLS LAUS, a separate monthly survey with its own methodology. The two won't reconcile by subtracting one from the other.
Key Takeaways
- Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong retail and housing markets.
- Cost of living stretches income further: Local prices run 9.4% below the national average, so the nominal median of $99,166 is worth $109,455 at national average prices. BEA publishes price parity at metro level, not county level.
- Talent advantage: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment exceeds the national average by 8.7 pts, supports knowledge-economy and tech attraction.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
$8.8B down from 2023 -2.2% vs 2023
Gross Domestic Product · 2024
-2.2% real (inflation-adjusted)
·
+2% nominal
· 2023 to 2024
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis · level and nominal change from CAGDP2 (current dollars); real change from CAGDP9 (chained 2017 dollars), both all-industry total. The two series agree in 2017, the chain reference year, and diverge by the amount of price change since.
90.6
Cost of Living · metro · Below Avg
Key Takeaways
- Largest private-sector industry: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 5,481 workers (23.7% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $66,351. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 2,136 and is counted separately.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $8.8B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $109,824 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $22,164, a 5.0x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
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Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
10 sub-sectors at LQ ≥ 1.5
Largest grouping among them is Finance & Insurance Cluster at 28.6% of the employment across all of them, which signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
9,510
Employment in the sub-sectors listed
11.16x
Peak sub-sector LQ
Sub-Sector Detail
Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing
11.16x 798
Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles
3.97x 26
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
2.87x 859
Animal Production and Aquaculture
2.81x 156
Credit Intermediation and Related Activities
2.74x 1,458
Construction of Buildings
2.50x 956
Insurance Carriers and Related Activities
2.30x 1,239
Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers
1.83x 398
Hospitals
1.75x 1,981
Specialty Trade Contractors
1.53x 1,639
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, screened against local siting constraints. Source: BLS QCEW
0.32x
Support Activities for Transportation
55 employed
0.32x
Publishing Industries and Telecommunications
60 employed
Screened on industrial power cost, rail-truck intermodal access, land base.
Industrial electricity in South Dakota costs 8.68¢/kWh against 8.62¢/kWh nationally (2025).
South Dakota has 0 rail-truck intermodal terminals.
Land area 577 sq mi, larger than 47% of US counties.
Sources: EIA, BTS NTAD, Census Gazetteer.
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing concentrates at 11.16x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
- Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 28.6% of the employment across them, the largest being finance and insurance. Demand reaches this base from more than one market rather than from a single one.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064, B25004
$348,300 up from the baseline named below
Median Home Value vs 2019
$1,260 up from the baseline named below
Rent/Mo vs 2019
71.2% down from the baseline named below
Owner-Occ vs 2019
2.9% down from the baseline named below
Vacancy vs 2019
1.4% available
for rent or sale
for rent or sale
3.5x
Home Value to Income Ratio
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
HUD publishes these by FMR area, which may cover more than one county · Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026 · Affordability threshold and renter cost burden from Census ACS B25119, B25070
Studio
$865/mo
1 Bedroom
$986/mo
2 Bedroom
$1,156/mo
3 Bedroom
$1,586/mo
4 Bedroom
$1,939/mo
30% of monthly median renter household income (~$1,487/mo, from a renter median of $59,484) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Measured: 36.2% of renter households already pay 30% or more of income on rent, and 13.2% pay 50% or more.
Key Takeaways
- In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.5x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
- High home ownership: 71.2% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
- Affordable rent tiers: 3 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $59,484 can pay without cost burden (~$1,487/mo), and 36.2% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23001, B23025, B08303, B08301
41,581 up from the baseline named below
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 7 min below national avg
19.3 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
12.3%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
91.5%
of prime-age population
Prime-age rate numerator is civilian employed (B23001); the denominator is total population aged 25-54 (B01001), which also includes armed forces.
of population age 16 and over (53,928)
up from 2019 vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003
Bachelor's+
44.4% up from 2019 vs 2019
HS Diploma+
96.5% up from 2019 vs 2019
Institutions in Lincoln County
The IPEDS institutional directory lists no college, university, or technical school located in Lincoln County. Any training pipeline serving this county runs through institutions outside it, which this page does not aggregate.
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
17.6%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Same cohort is 10.4% of total population, the basis used in the Demographics cohort chart.
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
48%
Service
13.3%
Sales & Office
21.2%
Construction / Maint.
6.4%
Production / Transport
11.1%
Bars are drawn on a 0% to 60% axis, so bar length is proportional to actual share. Labels give each group's share of 40,074 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Strong participation: 75.6% labor force participation among working-age residents indicates an engaged, available workforce.
- Short commutes: 19.3-minute mean commute is a quality-of-life and labor-access advantage worth surfacing for site selectors.
- Talent pipeline: no college, university, or technical school is located in Lincoln County per the IPEDS institutional directory, so any training pipeline serving it runs through institutions outside the county.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
Sample output. Pulse AI analysis draws on 9 federal data sources.
Sample AI Insight
Lincoln County shows strong potential for furniture and related product manufacturing attraction, with a 11.16x concentration and 798 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally.
The concentrated base spans furniture and related product manufacturing, funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles, and fabricated metal product manufacturing, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 28.6% of the employment across them, the largest being finance and insurance. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example
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Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2024 annual
BLS LAUS2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
BEA Regional Price Parity2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
American Community Survey figures on this page are 2020-2024 five-year averages rather than single-year counts. A five-year estimate pools 60 months of survey responses, so each value describes the period as a whole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Lincoln County, South Dakota, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Lincoln County, South Dakota?
70,638 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Lincoln County, South Dakota?
$99,166 in nominal dollars (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates). Adjusted for local prices using the BEA all-items regional price parity for Sioux Falls, SD-MN (90.6 against a national average of 100), that is $109,455 at national average prices. BEA publishes regional price parity at metro level; there is no county-level figure.
What is the unemployment rate in Lincoln County, South Dakota?
1.8% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of Lincoln County, South Dakota?
$8.8B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP2).
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