Rapid City Media Market — Elections 1876–2024

Rapid City, South Dakota: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+41%. Republican peak: R+46 in 1984.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin: R+41MIT Election Lab
Political archetype: PopulistAkashic typology
Population: 265,6942024 5-year
Median household income: $73,3852024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic): 82.9%2024 5-year
Black: 0.9%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino: 4.9%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin: D+35 in 1912MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin: R+46 in 1984MIT Election Lab

2024 results by constituent county

18 counties · 0 D · 18 R

R+60

D+60

One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.

38 presidential elections

Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
Year	Won	Margin	Democratic	Republican	Total
2024	R	−40.6%	38,820	94,367	136,667
2020	R	−38.9%	38,972	91,150	134,287
2016	R	−44.5%	27,604	79,114	115,687
2012	R	−38.1%	32,580	74,646	110,336
2008	R	−28.9%	39,514	72,716	115,068
2004	R	−39.4%	33,109	77,566	112,932
2000	D	+10.4%	31,519	25,424	58,789
1996	R	−18.9%	20,051	31,317	59,505
1992	R	−14.7%	18,100	27,063	61,069
1988	R	−23.7%	32,910	53,651	87,391
1984	R	−45.5%	23,417	63,125	87,203
1980	R	−43.4%	20,608	56,700	83,191
1976	R	−16.4%	29,656	41,462	72,188
1972	R	−33.3%	23,410	46,999	70,746
1968	R	−24.1%	21,442	36,565	62,648
1964	D	+0.1%	34,153	34,095	68,248
1960	R	−23.4%	27,039	43,545	70,588
1956	R	−29.7%	22,400	41,286	63,686
1952	R	−43.7%	18,787	48,029	66,850
1948	R	−11.2%	23,736	29,800	54,083
1944	R	−18.4%	19,745	28,668	48,414
1940	R	−13.5%	28,324	37,143	65,496
1936	D	+7.8%	33,352	28,375	63,438
1932	D	+17.7%	35,322	24,462	61,230
1928	R	−32.1%	17,644	34,518	52,550
1924	R	−34.7%	8,836	23,594	42,587
1920	R	−34.6%	10,010	22,608	36,447
1916	R	−0.1%	13,780	13,804	29,091
1912	O	+35.2%	11,164	2,043	25,888
1908	R	−18.2%	8,141	12,188	22,288
1904	R	−40.6%	4,577	11,932	18,122
1900	R	−9.8%	7,078	8,637	15,891
1896	D	+10.6%	8,098	6,544	14,721
1892	R	−38.2%	1,277	5,954	12,252
1888	—	No data	—	—	—
1884	—	No data	—	—	—
1880	—	No data	—	—	—
1876	—	No data	—	—	—

Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry

Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.

German

27.7%

Irish

12.4%

English

11.4%

American

4.4%

Italian

2.3%

Scottish

2.1%

French

1.8%

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: 41.7 in this county, 39.1 nationally

Male

Age

Female

0.8%

85+

1.4%

2.8%

75–84

2.9%

6.9%

65–74

6.7%

7.1%

55–64

7.0%

5.5%

45–54

5.4%

6.3%

35–44

5.8%

6.1%

25–34

5.8%

4.5%

18–24

3.7%

8.0%

5–17

7.8%

2.9%

2.6%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Median household income

2024 inflation-adjusted dollars

$73,385

Rapid City ranks near the middle of US counties.

Rapid City$73,385

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

11.3%

Child poverty is below the national average.

Children under 1813.7%

Working age (18–64)10.2%

Seniors (65+)13.0%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Language at home

Population aged 5 and older

95.7%

speak English only

Spanish1.8%

Other languages1.0%

Other Indo-European0.9%

Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%

Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.

Religious adherents

Adherents per capita by tradition

Other Christian

12.8%

Mainline Protestant

11.0%

Catholic & Orthodox

9.6%

Pentecostal & Holiness

7.1%

Methodist

1.6%

Baptist

1.6%

Non-Christian

0.3%

Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 56.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

The Rapid City media market anchors western South Dakota and pulls in corners of Wyoming and Nebraska, blending rural agricultural precincts with an urban core that has shifted measurably as the metro's population climbed past 80,000.

The Democratic margin in Rapid City peaked at thirty-five points in 1912. By 2004 the market had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-one points, the most Republican-leaning result in the market's modern history.

The economic context is the key. The median household income of $73,385 sits well below state and national norms, and 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country.

Cite this page

All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.

Rapid City, South Dakota — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/764/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.

License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Rapid City, South Dakota vote in 2024?

In 2024, Rapid City, South Dakota voted Republican by 40.6 points (R+41), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 136,667 votes cast, 38,820 went Democratic and 94,367 went Republican.

What is Rapid City, South Dakota's political archetype?

Akashic classifies Rapid City, South Dakota as a "Populist" market based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the market has voted Democratic 5 times, Republican 28 times, and other 1 times.

When did Rapid City, South Dakota last vote Democratic?

The most recent presidential election in which Rapid City, South Dakota voted Democratic was 2000.

How many people live in Rapid City, South Dakota?

Rapid City, South Dakota has a population of 265,694 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.

What is the median household income in Rapid City, South Dakota?

Median household income in Rapid City, South Dakota is $73,385 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.

What is the political history of Rapid City, South Dakota?

Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Rapid City, South Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 5 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.

Rapid City peaked at D+35; 2024 delivered R+41.

Key facts

Demographics

Frequently asked questions