Rapid City, SD, South Dakota: Realigner metro. In 2024, voted R+33%. Democratic peak: D+49 in 2000.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+33MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- RealignerAkashic typology
- Population
- 152,9502024 5-year
- Median household income
- $75,1292024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 81.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+49 in 2000MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+45 in 1984MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Rapid City, SD, SDOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 25,039 | 50,209 | 77,253 | ||
| R | 25,413 | 48,790 | 76,682 | ||
| R | 17,418 | 41,538 | 64,085 | ||
| R | 19,388 | 38,860 | 59,801 | ||
| R | 23,028 | 38,027 | 62,393 | ||
| R | 18,426 | 41,245 | 60,776 | ||
| D | 10,602 | 3,519 | 14,553 | ||
| R | 4,542 | 7,707 | 14,225 | ||
| R | 4,338 | 7,018 | 15,429 | ||
| R | 16,460 | 26,505 | 43,266 | ||
| R | 11,175 | 30,038 | 41,493 | ||
| R | 9,550 | 26,397 | 38,700 | ||
| R | 13,531 | 17,821 | 31,794 | ||
| R | 11,023 | 18,546 | 29,695 | ||
| R | 9,552 | 13,206 | 24,469 | ||
| D | 13,380 | 12,208 | 25,588 | ||
| R | 10,279 | 15,541 | 25,820 | ||
| R | 7,843 | 14,936 | 22,779 | ||
| R | 6,456 | 15,863 | 22,319 | ||
| R | 7,527 | 9,662 | 17,330 | ||
| R | 5,393 | 8,446 | 13,839 | ||
| R | 7,960 | 10,959 | 18,919 | ||
| D | 9,380 | 7,871 | 17,956 | ||
| D | 9,413 | 6,350 | 16,051 | ||
| R | 4,422 | 8,954 | 13,434 | ||
| R | 1,876 | 6,040 | 10,089 | ||
| R | 2,482 | 5,246 | 8,532 | ||
| R | 2,358 | 3,051 | 5,767 | ||
| O | 2,529 | 0 | 5,500 | ||
| R | 2,380 | 3,142 | 5,812 | ||
| R | 888 | 2,416 | 3,596 | ||
| R | 1,764 | 1,931 | 3,727 | ||
| D | 2,360 | 1,730 | 4,105 | ||
| R | 441 | 1,889 | 4,082 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
29.6%
Irish
13.3%
English
11.1%
American
3.9%
Italian
2.5%
French
2.5%
Scottish
2.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 40.6 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$75,129
Rapid City, SD ranks near the middle of US counties.
Rapid City, SD$75,129
South Dakota$75,081
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
10.3%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1813.1%
Working age (18–64)9.2%
Seniors (65+)11.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.7%
speak English only
Spanish1.5%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Other languages0.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.7%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 54.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Rapid City anchors a metro that spans some of the most lopsided partisan precincts in South Dakota, with heavily Democratic voting on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations contrasting against reliably Republican returns in the surrounding white-majority suburbs and rural fringe.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Rapid City, SD peaked at forty-nine points in 2000; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 2004 election delivered the metro to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of thirty-eight points. By 2024, the margin had settled into deep Republican territory.
The economic and demographic context is severe. The median household income of $75,129 is among the lowest at this geographic scale; 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Rapid City, SD, South Dakota — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/39660/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Rapid City, SD, South Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Rapid City, SD, South Dakota voted Republican by 32.6 points (R+33), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 77,253 votes cast, 25,039 went Democratic and 50,209 went Republican.
What is Rapid City, SD, South Dakota's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Rapid City, SD, South Dakota as a "Realigner" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 5 times, Republican 28 times, and other 1 times.
When did Rapid City, SD, South Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Rapid City, SD, South Dakota voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Rapid City, SD, South Dakota?
Rapid City, SD, South Dakota has a population of 152,950 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Rapid City, SD, South Dakota?
Median household income in Rapid City, SD, South Dakota is $75,129 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of Rapid City, SD, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Rapid City, SD, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 5 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Realigner" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.