South Dakota 3rd State Senate District, South Dakota: Frontier district. In 2020, voted R+23%. Republican peak: R+26 in 2016.
Key facts
- 2020 presidential margin
- R+23MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- FrontierAkashic typology
- Population
- 26,5952024 5-year
- Median household income
- $70,8982024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 85.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+6 in 2008MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+26 in 2016MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for State Senate District 3, 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.
4 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 4,591 | 7,429 | 12,320 | ||
| R | 3,828 | 6,750 | 11,314 | ||
| R | 5,091 | 5,843 | 11,282 | ||
| D | 6,348 | 5,664 | 12,236 |
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
42.7%
English
7.8%
Irish
7.2%
American
4.5%
French
2.2%
Polish
1.0%
Scottish
1.0%
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: 37.8 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
$70,898
State Senate District 3 ranks near the middle of US counties.
State Senate District 3$70,898
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
11.7%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1812.2%
Working age (18–64)11.6%
Seniors (65+)11.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
93.4%
speak English only
Spanish2.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander2.1%
Other Indo-European1.8%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 24.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
With a 2024 presidential margin of R+54.1, this sparsely populated district in South Dakota ranks among the most one-sided in the state, reflecting the deep Republican alignment typical of rural northern Plains constituencies.
The pattern that emerged was Republican-leaning, in line with much of the rural West. The 2020 margin was twenty-three points. The widest margin in modern history was twenty-six points in 2016.
The population is 26,595, among the smaller at this geographic scale. The district's political character reflects the sparse, rural West more than any national alignment.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
State Senate District 3, South Dakota — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/sld-upper/46003/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did State Senate District 3, South Dakota vote in 2020?
In 2020, State Senate District 3, South Dakota voted Republican by 23.0 points (R+23), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 12,320 votes cast, 4,591 went Democratic and 7,429 went Republican.
What is State Senate District 3, South Dakota's political archetype?
Akashic classifies State Senate District 3, South Dakota as a "Frontier" district based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 4 elections in the dataset, the district has voted Democratic 1 times, Republican 3 times, and other 0 times.
When did State Senate District 3, South Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which State Senate District 3, South Dakota voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in State Senate District 3, South Dakota?
State Senate District 3, South Dakota has a population of 26,595 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in State Senate District 3, South Dakota?
Median household income in State Senate District 3, South Dakota is $70,898 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Dakota state median is $75,081.
What is the political history of State Senate District 3, South Dakota?
Akashic tracks 4 presidential elections in State Senate District 3, South Dakota from 2008 to 2020. Of those, 1 went Democratic and 3 went Republican. The district's archetype — "Frontier" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.