County Buffalo County, South Dakota - Population, Income & Demographics

The median income of households in Buffalo County, South Dakota was $47,000. An estimated 16.9% of households had income below $10,000 a year and 3.2% had income of $200,000 or more.

An estimated 71.6% of households received earnings. An estimated 32.1% of households received Social Security and an estimated 21.4 % of households received retirement income other than Social Security. The average income from Social Security was $17,909. These income sources are not mutually exclusive; that is, some households received income from more than one source.

In 2019-2023, 32.5 % of people were in poverty. An estimated 35.9% of children under 18 were below the poverty level, compared with 11% of people 65 years old and over. An estimated 33.9% of people 18 to 64 years were below the poverty level.

In 2019-2023, 22.4 % of households received SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). An estimated 73.9% of households that received SNAP had children under 18, and 26.1% of households that received SNAP had one or more people 60 years and over. An estimated 62.2% of all households receiving SNAP were families with a female householder and no spouse present.

Among the civilian noninstitutionalized population in Buffalo County, South Dakota in 2019-2023, 57.1% had health insurance coverage and 42.9% did not have health insurance coverage. Private coverage was 23.2% and public coverage was 36.6%, respectively. The percentage of children under the age of 19 with no health insurance coverage was 32.9%.

In 2019-2023, Buffalo County, South Dakota had a total population of 1,757 - 797 (45.4%) females and 960 (54.6%) males. The median age was 26.2 years. An estimated 36.3% of the population was under 18 years, 30.3% was 19 to 44 years, 19.6% was 45 to 64 years, and 9.3 % was 65 years and older.

In 2019-2023, there were 496 households in Buffalo County, South Dakota. The average household size was 3.54 people.

Married-couple households made up 27.4% of the households in Buffalo County, South Dakota while cohabiting couple households made up 10.5% of households. Female householders with no spouse or partner present were 30.6% of all households, while 31.5% of households had male householders with no spouse or partner present. Some households had one person, as 17.7% of households were male householders living alone, and 13.9% were female householders living alone, for a total of 31.6% of all households.

In Buffalo County, South Dakota, 42.1% of all households had one or more people under the age of 18; 25.4% of all households had one or more people 65 years and over.

In 2019-2023, an estimated 100% of the people living in Buffalo County, South Dakota were U.S. natives. 93.7% of the Buffalo County, South Dakota population were living in the state where they were born.

Approximately 0% of Buffalo County, South Dakota residents in 2019-2023 were foreign-born. NaN% of foreign-born were naturalized U.S. citizens and an estimated NaN % entered the country before the year 2010.

Foreign-born residents of Buffalo County, South Dakota come from different parts of the world. The bar graph below displays the percentage of foreign-born from each world region of birth in 2019-2023 for Buffalo County, South Dakota.

Among people at least five years old living in Buffalo County, South Dakota in 2019-2023, 1.6 % spoke a language other than English at home. Spanish was spoken by 0% of people at least five years old; 0% reported that they did not speak English "very well."

In 2019-2023, 96.8 % of the people at least one year old living in Buffalo County, South Dakota were living in the same house one year earlier.

In 2019-2023, 85.6 % of people 25 years and over had at least graduated from high school and 7% had a bachelor's degree or higher. An estimated 14.4% did not complete high school.

The total school enrollment in Buffalo County, South Dakota was 502 in 2019-2023. Nursery school enrollment was 46 and kindergarten through 12th grade enrollment was 427. College or graduate school enrollment was 29.

In Buffalo County, South Dakota, among the civilian noninstitutionalized population in 2019-2023, 15.7 % reported a disability. The likelihood of having a disability varied by age - from 1.3% of people under 18 years old, to 22.1% of people 18 to 64 years old, and to 34.1% of those 65 and over.

In Buffalo County, South Dakota, 48.4 % of the population 16 and over were employed; 46.4% were not currently in the labor force.

An estimated 43% of the people employed were private wage and salary workers; 42.8% were federal, state, or local government workers; and 14.2 % were self-employed in their own (not incorporated) business.

In 2019-2023, the civilian employed population 16 years and older in Buffalo County, South Dakota worked in the following industries:

An estimated 76.7% of Buffalo County, South Dakota workers drove to work alone in 2019-2023, and 3.1% carpooled. Among those who commuted to work, it took them on average 14.1 minutes to get to work.

In 2019-2023, Buffalo County, South Dakota had a total of 577 housing units. Of these housing units, 67.6% were single-family houses either not attached to any other structure or attached to one or more structures (commonly referred to as "townhouses" or "row houses"). 8.6% of the housing units were located in multi-unit structures, or those buildings that contained two or more apartments. 23.4% were mobile homes, while any remaining housing units were classified as "other," which included boats, recreational vehicles, vans, etc.

5.4% of the housing inventory was comprised of houses built since 2010, while 6.6% of the houses were first built in 1939 or earlier. The median number of rooms in all housing units in Buffalo County, South Dakota was 5.2 rooms, and of these housing units 71.9% had three or more bedrooms.

In 2019-2023, Buffalo County, South Dakota had 496 housing units that were occupied or had people living in them, while the remaining 81 were vacant. Of the occupied housing units, the percentage of these houses occupied by owners (also known as the homeownership rate) was 52.6% while renters occupied 47.4%. The average household size of owner-occupied houses was 3.53 and in renter-occupied houses it was 3.55.

5.2% of householders of these occupied houses had moved into their house since 2021, while 21% moved into their house in 1989 or earlier. Households without a vehicle available for personal use comprised 16.3% and another 20.6% had three or more vehicles available for use.

The following chart provides the primary fuel used to heat houses in Buffalo County, South Dakota:

In 2019-2023, the median property value for owner-occupied houses in Buffalo County, South Dakota was $108,000.

Of the owner-occupied households, 4.6 % had a mortgage. 95.4% owned their houses "free and clear," that is without a primary mortgage or loan on the house. The median monthly housing costs for owners with a mortgage was $NaN and for owners without a mortgage it was $357.

For renter-occupied houses, the median gross rent for Buffalo County, South Dakota was $535. Gross rent includes the monthly contract rent and any monthly payments made for electricity, gas, water and sewer, and any other fuels to heat the house.