Electric Consumer

Editor: Katerine G., Editor & Data Researcher · Research & publishing: Electric Consumer Editorial Team · Data retrieved · Sources named on this page: EIA-861, Census ACS, DOE LEAD, FEMA National Risk Index, OpenFEMA NFIP · How we got these numbers · Report an error

Counties in South Dakota ranked

9.1%of income goes to home energy in Faulk County, the highest of 61 South Dakota counties

Lincoln County is lowest at 2.1%, a gap of 4.4 times. The median South Dakota county sits at 3.8%, against 3.3% for the median U.S. county. Source for South Dakota: DOE LEAD 2022.

South Dakota county map

South Dakota counties, shaded by quintile of the selected measureMoody County: 3.6%Aurora County: 3.7%Davison County: 2.8%Turner County: 3.4%Day County: 5.3%Fall River County: 3.9%Brule County: 3.3%McCook County: 3.4%Miner County: 4.5%Grant County: 3.7%Brown County: 2.6%Beadle County: 3.2%Brookings County: 2.7%Clark County: 4.6%Spink County: 3.4%Hamlin County: 4.3%Kingsbury County: 4.0%Buffalo County: 7.3%Edmunds County: 5.2%Jerauld County: 4.2%Hyde County: 4.0%Douglas County: 4.2%Sanborn County: 3.9%Deuel County: 4.0%Hutchinson County: 3.2%Hand County: 3.8%Lyman County: 4.2%Sully County: 4.5%Potter County: 3.8%Lake County: 2.8%Harding County: 3.3%Hanson County: 3.8%Union County: 2.5%Corson County: 5.3%Yankton County: 2.9%Gregory County: 3.3%Charles Mix County: 4.6%Marshall County: 5.8%Clay County: 3.2%Lawrence County: 2.6%Haakon County: 4.6%Bon Homme County: 4.8%Pennington County: 2.2%Minnehaha County: 2.3%Dewey County: no page, no dataCuster County: 2.7%Mellette County: 6.0%Meade County: 2.6%Faulk County: 9.1%Walworth County: 3.5%Todd County: no page, no dataButte County: 3.2%Bennett County: no page, no dataCodington County: 2.5%Hughes County: 2.7%Stanley County: no page, no dataZiebach County: 4.0%Roberts County: 5.0%McPherson County: 4.6%Lincoln County: 2.1%Jones County: no page, no dataOglala Lakota County: 6.5%Perkins County: 3.2%Jackson County: 7.8%Tripp County: 3.7%Campbell County: 4.6%
  • 2.1% to 2.8%
  • 2.8% to 3.4%
  • 3.4% to 4.0%
  • 4.0% to 4.6%
  • 4.6% to 9.1%

South Dakota counties, darker = higher. Click one for its page.

Highest energy burden in South Dakota

Faulk County leads South Dakota on burden at 9.1% of income and Jackson County follows at 7.8%. For lower-income homes the top is Faulk County: 28.3% of income, against 11.7% in the median South Dakota county.

home energy burden, % of income, top 10 South Dakota counties

  • Faulk County9.1
  • Jackson County7.8
  • Buffalo County7.3
  • Oglala Lakota County6.5
  • Mellette County6.0
  • Marshall County5.8
  • Corson County5.3
  • Day County5.3
  • Edmunds County5.2
  • Roberts County5.0
  • South Dakota median county3.8
South Dakota counties with the lowest home energy burden
Lowest burden in South DakotaShare of income (SD)Residents (SD)
Lincoln County2.1%68,286
Pennington County2.2%112,081
Minnehaha County2.3%200,689
Codington County2.5%28,556
Union County2.5%16,916

Storm reports and FEMA risk in South Dakota

NOAA logged 303 damaging-wind, tornado, tropical, ice, winter and heat reports in Custer County from 2015 to 2025, 3,488 for every 100,000 residents: the most in South Dakota. FEMA scores Minnehaha County highest at 89.5 (relatively moderate). In South Dakota these are weather reports and an index, not outage counts.

South Dakota top 5: Storm reports per 100,000 residents
Top 5 in South Dakotareports 2015-2025 (SD)Residents (SD)Rank (SD)
Custer County3,4888,6861st
Tripp County3,4785,6072nd
Fall River County3,2737,1793rd
Day County3,1325,4604th
Walworth County2,8315,2985th
South Dakota top 5: FEMA risk score
Top 5 in South Dakotascore 0-100 (SD)Residents (SD)Rank (SD)
Minnehaha County89.5200,6891st
Pennington County78.6112,0812nd
Brown County73.538,0793rd
Yankton County63.423,3794th
Lincoln County63.068,2865th

Flood claims and flood insurance in South Dakota

Lake County has the most NFIP flood claims per 1,000 homes in South Dakota: 21.5 from 2015 to 2025, against 1.9 in the median South Dakota county. Union County has the highest share of homes with flood insurance (2.5%, median county 0.3%). Claims are a record of insured losses, not outage counts.

South Dakota top 5: Flood claims per 1,000 homes
Top 5 in South Dakotaclaims 2015-2025 (SD)Residents (SD)Rank (SD)
Lake County21.511,0521st
Hamlin County18.96,2882nd
Lyman County8.63,7173rd
Hanson County3.33,4734th
McCook County3.35,7325th
South Dakota top 5: Flood insurance penetration
Top 5 in South Dakota% of homes insured (SD)Residents (SD)Rank (SD)
Union County2.5%16,9161st
Lake County2.0%11,0522nd
Codington County1.9%28,5563rd
Hamlin County1.7%6,2884th
Yankton County0.9%23,3795th

FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP, as of 8 Sep 2026. Flood claims by county.

Outliers: South Dakota counties far from the state median

10 county-measure pairs sit 3 or more scaled median-absolute-deviation units from the South Dakota median. Most extreme: Lake County, flood claims per 1,000 homes 21.5 against a median of 1.9.

South Dakota outliers by deviation from the state median
CountyMeasureValueSouth Dakota medianDeviations
Lake CountyFlood claims per 1,000 homes21.51.9+13.3
Hamlin CountyFlood claims per 1,000 homes18.91.9+11.5
Union CountyFlood insurance penetration2.5%0.3%+6.6
Lake CountyFlood insurance penetration2.0%0.3%+5.2
Codington CountyFlood insurance penetration1.9%0.3%+4.7
Lyman CountyFlood claims per 1,000 homes8.61.9+4.6
Faulk CountyHome energy burden9.1%3.8%+4.5
Faulk CountyBurden, lower-income homes28.3%11.7%+4.3
Lincoln CountyHomes built before 198019%64%-4.2
Hamlin CountyFlood insurance penetration1.7%0.3%+4.1

Old homes, electric heat and utilities in South Dakota

Hyde County has the oldest stock: 83% of homes date from before 1980. Electric heat is most common in Brule County at 55% of homes, and Lake County lists 5 utilities, the most in South Dakota.

South Dakota top 5: Homes built before 1980
Top 5 in South Dakota% of homes (SD)Residents (SD)Rank (SD)
Hyde County83%1,3051st
McPherson County82%2,2782nd
Hutchinson County80%7,3933rd
Miner County78%2,2994th
Perkins County78%3,0585th
South Dakota top 5: Homes heated by electricity
Top 5 in South Dakota% of homes (SD)Residents (SD)Rank (SD)
Brule County55%5,2611st
Faulk County49%2,1372nd
Aurora County48%2,5733rd
Hyde County46%1,3054th
Lyman County46%3,7175th

Find your South Dakota county

  • Pick a South Dakota county to see its ranks.

All 61 South Dakota counties, sortable

61 South Dakota counties, all measures
Aurora County2,5733.7%11.7%under 5,000 residents19.673%48%2no data0.1%145
Beadle County19,2793.2%8.5%89747.170%38%3no data0.1%173
Bon Homme County7,0244.8%13.8%1,72310.876%44%2no data0.0%121
Brookings County34,9682.7%6.9%44350.148%38%41.20.4%155
Brown County38,0792.6%7.5%70673.559%42%3no data0.7%269
Brule County5,2613.3%8.9%2,35758.764%55%21.3no data124
Buffalo County1,7577.3%18.4%under 5,000 residents13.760%23%2no datano data117
Butte County10,5383.2%10.3%2,26823.349%32%1no data0.7%239
Campbell County1,4814.6%16.4%under 5,000 residents4.473%29%1no data0.1%122
Charles Mix County9,2814.6%15.2%1,99348.564%40%11.50.1%185
Clark County3,8764.6%15.0%under 5,000 residents4.575%35%2no data0.7%140
Clay County15,1333.2%10.3%72020.556%35%1no data0.1%109
Codington County28,5562.5%7.6%48061.852%35%33.01.9%137
Corson County3,8595.3%15.9%under 5,000 residents38.161%8%1no data0.0%221
Custer County8,6862.7%11.1%3,48816.340%37%21.50.8%303
Davison County19,9362.8%7.1%65739.267%38%21.90.5%131
Day County5,4605.3%15.8%3,13227.671%39%4no data0.3%171
Deuel County4,3184.0%12.2%under 5,000 residents6.966%33%3no data0.0%139
Douglas County2,8234.2%14.1%under 5,000 residents10.474%41%2no data0.1%130
Edmunds County4,0335.2%22.8%under 5,000 residents7.068%33%3no data0.0%160
Fall River County7,1793.9%12.3%3,27330.965%44%2no data0.2%235
Faulk County2,1379.1%28.3%under 5,000 residents8.075%49%4no datano data116
Grant County7,5443.7%11.2%1,59118.963%38%2no data0.2%120
Gregory County3,9933.3%9.8%under 5,000 residents16.270%44%1no data0.0%163
Haakon County1,7084.6%18.0%under 5,000 residents9.760%29%1no datano data233
Hamlin County6,2884.3%12.2%1,59010.062%34%318.91.7%100
Hand County3,0453.8%12.6%under 5,000 residents6.574%38%3no data0.1%160
Hanson County3,4733.8%12.8%under 5,000 residents14.869%35%43.30.2%92
Harding County1,0923.3%11.0%under 5,000 residents1.566%20%1no datano data250
Hughes County17,7322.7%9.8%1,17316.553%36%2no data0.5%208
Hutchinson County7,3933.2%9.8%2,01547.980%38%30.90.3%149
Hyde County1,3054.0%11.0%under 5,000 residents6.583%46%2no datano data171
Jackson County2,8267.8%18.3%under 5,000 residents10.258%26%1no datano data303
Jerauld County1,8454.2%13.1%under 5,000 residents9.572%31%3no data0.1%95
Kingsbury County5,2104.0%13.1%2,1117.961%27%4no data0.2%110
Lake County11,0522.8%9.5%91432.656%28%521.52.0%101
Lawrence County26,5742.6%8.9%78649.345%31%2no data0.6%209
Lincoln County68,2862.1%8.3%24963.019%26%30.60.3%170
Lyman County3,7174.2%14.7%under 5,000 residents26.560%46%18.60.1%269
Marshall County4,3555.8%20.6%under 5,000 residents14.570%35%3no datano data136
McCook County5,7323.4%10.6%2,21643.464%24%33.30.4%127
McPherson County2,2784.6%16.5%under 5,000 residents11.182%23%2no datano data142
Meade County30,2972.6%9.1%1,89149.540%32%30.50.5%573
Mellette County2,0436.0%19.3%under 5,000 residents5.266%32%1no datano data115
Miner County2,2994.5%15.3%under 5,000 residents3.478%29%5no datano data82
Minnehaha County200,6892.3%7.4%11289.543%29%32.50.3%225
Moody County6,3713.6%10.6%1,83626.964%25%33.00.4%117
Oglala Lakota County13,5876.5%16.7%1,39149.840%32%3no datano data189
Pennington County112,0812.2%7.2%57078.648%32%30.90.6%639
Perkins County3,0583.2%11.2%under 5,000 residents2.678%34%1no datano data235
Potter County2,4303.8%12.5%under 5,000 residents10.064%32%1no datano data132
Roberts County10,2195.0%15.5%2,03537.862%41%21.80.5%208
Sanborn County2,3703.9%12.6%under 5,000 residents3.677%35%4no data0.1%97
Spink County6,2833.4%11.0%2,34017.774%34%30.90.2%147
Sully County1,4814.5%19.5%under 5,000 residents6.359%41%1no datano data105
Tripp County5,6073.7%11.7%3,47836.571%35%1no data0.0%195
Turner County8,7723.4%10.9%1,51624.070%37%41.90.4%133
Union County16,9162.5%10.7%81037.142%35%23.22.5%137
Walworth County5,2983.5%10.1%2,83139.571%25%1no data0.0%150
Yankton County23,3792.9%7.6%58263.457%28%22.10.9%136
Ziebach County2,4104.0%14.5%under 5,000 residents25.242%24%1no datano data186

Download CSV, 61 rows

South Dakota: click a header to sort. Per-capita storm rates start at 5,000 residents.

Sources

South Dakota sources with periods and retrieval dates
SourcePeriodRetrieved
DOE LEAD (SD)20222 Oct 2026
FEMA NRI (SD)Dec 20252 Oct 2026
NOAA Storm Events (SD)2015 to 20252 Oct 2026
Census ACS (SD)2019 to 20232 Oct 2026
EIA-861 (SD)20241 Oct 2026

South Dakota LEAD figures are group estimates, not bills. Methodology.

Keep going

Other states: Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington.

Questions

Which South Dakota county has the highest home energy burden?

Faulk County: 9.1% of income, against 3.8% for the median South Dakota county (DOE LEAD 2022).

Which South Dakota county has the lowest energy burden?

Lincoln County at 2.1% of income.

How does South Dakota compare with the whole country?

The median South Dakota county has a burden of 3.8% and the median U.S. county 3.3%, across 61 South Dakota counties and 3,053 U.S. counties with data.

Where do storms cause the most trouble in South Dakota?

Custer County has the most NOAA storm reports per 100,000 residents: 3,488 between 2015 and 2025.

Which South Dakota county has the highest FEMA risk score?

Minnehaha County: 89.5, rated relatively moderate by FEMA (Dec 2025).

Where are the oldest homes in South Dakota?

Hyde County: 83% of homes were built before 1980; the median South Dakota county is at 64% (Census ACS 2023).

Which South Dakota county relies most on electric heat?

Brule County: 55% of homes heat with electricity, against 35% in the median county.

Which South Dakota county has the most flood claims per home?

Lake County: 21.5 NFIP claims per 1,000 homes from 2015 to 2025; the median South Dakota county has 1.9 (FEMA OpenFEMA).

Are storm reports the same as power outages in South Dakota?

No: in South Dakota they are weather reports, not outage counts.

Where can South Dakota households get help with bills?

See the South Dakota help page. Highest burden: Faulk County.

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9.1% of income goes to home energy in Faulk County, the highest of 61 South Dakota counties