The 10 Cities In South Dakota With The Highest Divorce Rates For 2024


The cities in South Dakota with the highest divorce rate are Eagle Butte and Hot Springs for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

Cities with highest divorce rate in South Dakota research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to analyze South Dakota’s most recent Census data to determine the divorce rate for each city in South Dakota based on the percentage of currently divorced residents. Here are the results of our analysis:

  • The city with the highest divorce rate in South Dakota is Eagle Butte based on the most recent Census data.

  • Eagle Butte is 14.0% Divorced.

  • The city with the lowest divorce rate in South Dakota is Elk Point.

  • Elk Point is 2.0% Divorced.

  • South Dakota is 6.0% Divorced.

Cities With Highest Divorce Rate In South Dakota Map


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


There are some 42,736 people living in South Dakota over fifteen years of age who are divorced. You can compare that to the 28,339,199 Americans who are currently divorced in 2024.

Many people decide to run away – or split up – across the Mount Rushmore State.

Isn’t the divorce rate in America close to 50%? Yes indeed. But we’re measuring something else; we are looking at counts and percentages of people over 15 years old who are currently divorced. That 50% statistic is for the percentage of people who have ever been divorced.

For today’s analysis, the focus will be on the number of currently divorced people.

So now that we have you biting your nails, rethinking your worldview, and pulling out your hair, let’s look at the places in South Dakota with the highest rates of divorcees.

The 10 Cities In South Dakota With The Highest Divorce Rates

  1. Eagle Butte
  2. Hot Springs
  3. Canton
  4. Parker
  5. Salem
  6. Sisseton
  7. Pierre
  8. Clark
  9. Gettysburg
  10. Gregory

Let’s quickly recap before we dive into the Saturday Night Science behind the data.

What is the city in South Dakota with the highest divorce rate? That would be Eagle Butte, with 14.0% of people over 15 years of age being divorced, per the most recent census data.

What is the overall South Dakota divorce rate? According to the 2018-2022 Community Survey, the overall divorce rate in South Dakota is 6.0%, which compares to the US divorce rate of 10.9%.

Alrighty, on to how we calculated the places with the highest divorce rates in South Dakota.

For more South Dakota reading, check out:

The 10 Places With The Highest Divorce Rate In South Dakota For 2024

1. Eagle Butte

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,396
Divorce Rate: 14.0%
Divorcees: 156
Median Income: $40,556
More on Eagle Butte: Real Estate

Hot Springs, SD

Source: Wikipedia User devriesm | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,465
Divorce Rate: 14.0%
Divorcees: 388
Median Income: $47,337
More on Hot Springs: Data | Crime | Real Estate

Canton, SD

Source: Wikipedia User AlexiusHoratius | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 3,060
Divorce Rate: 14.0%
Divorcees: 342
Median Income: $71,064
More on Canton: Data | Crime | Real Estate

4. Parker

Overall SnackAbility

/10

Population: 1,111
Divorce Rate: 12.0%
Divorcees: 106
Median Income: $83,864
More on Parker: Real Estate

5. Salem

Salem, SD

Source: Wikipedia User publichall | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,163
Divorce Rate: 12.0%
Divorcees: 111
Median Income: $69,228
More on Salem: Real Estate

6. Sisseton

Sisseton, SD

Source: Wikipedia User Connor401 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,564
Divorce Rate: 11.0%
Divorcees: 225
Median Income: $40,100
More on Sisseton: Crime | Real Estate

Pierre, SD

Source: Wikipedia User Alanscottwalker | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 14,105
Divorce Rate: 11.0%
Divorcees: 1,241
Median Income: $80,473
More on Pierre: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

8. Clark

Clark, SD

Source: Wikipedia User JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 1,206
Divorce Rate: 11.0%
Divorcees: 106
Median Income: $47,305
More on Clark: Real Estate

9. Gettysburg

Gettysburg, SD

Source: Wikipedia User Jon Roanhaus | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,440
Divorce Rate: 10.0%
Divorcees: 115
Median Income: $66,094
More on Gettysburg: Real Estate

10. Gregory

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,393
Divorce Rate: 10.0%
Divorcees: 111
Median Income: $46,071
More on Gregory: Real Estate

How We Determined The Places In South Dakota That Get Un-Hitched The Most

Since this is the 58th category of rankings we are compiling for the site, we had a pretty good idea of where to find data on marriage and divorce in America. We used Saturday Night Science to look at the U.S. Census Bureau on divorce rates. Because who likes tracking misery more than the U.S. government?

Specifically, we looked at the 2018-2022 American Community Survey table S1201 — Marital Status.

Pretty straightforward on that front — we just had to extract the following column of data:

  • Population 15 Years and Over -> Divorced

There are some interesting/fun/sad data like .1% of female Americans aged 15-19 are divorced, but 0% of males (That’s probably a rounding issue, but still).

But the national data is for another day. Today, the analysis focuses on the 64 places in South Dakota with a population of over 1,000.

We ranked each place by the percentage of divorcees over 15 years of age from highest to lowest. We crowned the divorce capital of South Dakota the place with the highest incidence of divorcees, Eagle Butte.

And if you’re trying to avoid divorce, check out Elk Point, the city with the lowest divorce rate in South Dakota.

We updated this article for 2024 and this list is our fifth time ranking the cities in South Dakota with the highest divorce rates.

Getting Some Closure In South Dakota After Untying The Know

Besides just coming up with what we thought would be a great new blog/book title, “Untying the Knot In South Dakota: Life After Divorce,” we now have a sense of what places in the Mount Rushmore State don’t pay much attention to the whole “’til death do we part” phrase.

The cities with the highest divorce rate in South Dakota are Eagle Butte, Hot Springs, Canton, Parker, Salem, Sisseton, Pierre, Clark, Gettysburg, and Gregory.

Try to keep in mind that the reason cities rank where they do in South Dakota could be because of the age, education, and income distribution, as all of those things impact the rate of divorce.

And that’s probably for the best. Getting out of a toxic relationship is much better than staying in it.

Just make sure you have your running shoes ready to go.

For more South Dakota reading, check out:

Cities With The Highest Divorce Rates In South Dakota

Rank City Population Divorcees Divorce Rate
1 Eagle Butte, SD 1,396 156 14.0%
2 Hot Springs, SD 3,465 388 14.0%
3 Canton, SD 3,060 342 14.0%
4 Parker, SD 1,111 106 12.0%
5 Salem, SD 1,163 111 12.0%
6 Sisseton, SD 2,564 225 11.0%
7 Pierre, SD 14,105 1,241 11.0%
8 Clark, SD 1,206 106 11.0%
9 Gettysburg, SD 1,440 115 10.0%
10 Gregory, SD 1,393 111 10.0%
11 Tyndall, SD 1,047 83 10.0%
12 Parkston, SD 2,003 160 10.0%
13 Redfield, SD 2,253 180 10.0%
14 Chamberlain, SD 2,538 203 10.0%
15 Mobridge, SD 3,130 225 9.0%
16 Miller, SD 1,293 93 9.0%
17 Groton, SD 1,688 121 9.0%
18 Flandreau, SD 2,246 143 8.0%
19 Belle Fourche, SD 5,670 362 8.0%
20 Garretson, SD 1,259 80 8.0%
21 Rapid City, SD 75,632 4,840 8.0%
22 Aberdeen, SD 28,388 1,589 7.0%
23 Madison, SD 6,271 351 7.0%
24 Sturgis, SD 7,121 398 7.0%
25 Watertown, SD 22,718 1,272 7.0%
26 Custer, SD 2,043 114 7.0%
27 Summerset, SD 2,950 165 7.0%
28 Britton, SD 1,108 62 7.0%
29 Springfield, SD 2,216 124 7.0%
30 Mitchell, SD 15,656 876 7.0%
31 Fort Pierre, SD 2,522 141 7.0%
32 Freeman, SD 1,580 88 7.0%
33 Webster, SD 1,805 101 7.0%
34 Lemmon, SD 1,118 53 6.0%
35 Baltic, SD 1,440 69 6.0%
36 Wagner, SD 1,621 77 6.0%
37 Spearfish, SD 12,268 588 6.0%
38 Brandon, SD 10,919 524 6.0%
39 Deadwood, SD 1,423 68 6.0%
40 Lennox, SD 2,603 124 6.0%
41 Huron, SD 14,179 567 5.0%
42 Crooks, SD 1,463 58 5.0%
43 Yankton, SD 15,421 616 5.0%
44 Hartford, SD 3,340 133 5.0%
45 Milbank, SD 3,506 140 5.0%
46 Sioux Falls, SD 193,401 7,736 5.0%
47 Winner, SD 2,905 116 5.0%
48 Clear Lake, SD 1,310 41 4.0%
49 Box Elder, SD 11,905 380 4.0%
50 Piedmont, SD 1,198 38 4.0%
51 Dell Rapids, SD 3,953 126 4.0%
52 Mission, SD 1,256 40 4.0%
53 Lead, SD 2,993 95 4.0%
54 Volga, SD 2,043 65 4.0%
55 Platte, SD 1,299 41 4.0%
56 Tea, SD 5,922 189 4.0%
57 Harrisburg, SD 7,157 229 4.0%
58 Ipswich, SD 1,170 37 4.0%
59 Brookings, SD 23,530 752 4.0%
60 Beresford, SD 2,419 58 3.0%
61 North Sioux City, SD 2,984 47 2.0%
62 Aurora, SD 1,429 22 2.0%
63 Vermillion, SD 11,667 186 2.0%
64 Elk Point, SD 2,177 34 2.0%
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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