Census-designated place · Dewey County, South Dakota

North Eagle Butte, South Dakota

North Eagle Butte is a census-designated place in Dewey County, South Dakota. It has 1,481 residents. North Eagle Butte, South Dakota has a quality-of-life score of 19 out of 100 (very low), ranking #12,696 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within South Dakota it ranks #70 of 75 cities and towns. It ranks best on home price to income ratio (low), grocery stores (high) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low). It ranks worst on premature death (high), life expectancy (low) and mental health care shortage (high).

19Very low

Quality-of-life score: #12,696 of 15,651 cities and towns
South Dakota: #70 of 75 in SD
Population: 1,481 (2020-2024)
Land area: 9 mi²
Density: 168.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 4645548

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 68 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety94#924/15,637
Economy1#15,524/15,631
Housing—
Health5#14,903/15,609
Healthcare1#15,486/15,650
Environment95#772/15,453
Education14#13,450/15,649
Infrastructure14#13,476/15,650
Community25#11,788/15,651
Leisure & amenities37#9,866/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where North Eagle Butte, South Dakota ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Dewey County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Home price to income ratio · low1.0×
100/100South Dakota 3.4×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Grocery stores · high7.4 /10k
100/100South Dakota 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDewey County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.1 µg/m³
99/100South Dakota 5.1 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyDewey County value
Property crime rate · low168 /100k
99/100South Dakota 1,312 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2023Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureDewey County value
Firearm deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100South Dakota 15.3 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100k2024Centers for Disease Control and PreventionDewey County value
Violent crime rate · low34 /100k
99/100South Dakota 308 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2023Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureDewey County value

Weaknesses

Premature death · high39,664 /100k
0/100South Dakota 8,706 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDewey County value
Life expectancy · low57.3 yrs
0/100South Dakota 77.4 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDewey County value
Mental health care shortage · high22.0
0/100South Dakota 18.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationDewey County value
Adult smoking · high35.0%
0/100South Dakota 16.3%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Dental care shortage · high21.0
0/100South Dakota 6.9United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationDewey County value
Mammography screening · low21.0%
0/100South Dakota 54.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDewey County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
2,220 (2015-2019) → 1,481 (2020-2024)
−33%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
44.2% (2015-2019) → 78.6% (2020-2024)
+34 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Poverty rateWorsening
39.4% (2015-2019) → 52.6% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Child poverty rateWorsening
40.5% (2015-2019) → 53.3% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
37.1% (2015-2019) → 24.3% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Home price to income ratioImproving
1.5× (2015-2019) → 1.0× (2020-2024)
−35%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, North Eagle Butte, South Dakota improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved3

Broadband+34 points44.2% → 78.6%
Uninsured−13 points37.1% → 24.3%
Price / income−0.5×1.5× → 1.0×

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of North Eagle Butte, South Dakota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	11.6 min2015-2019	12.3 min2020-2024	+0.6 min	Within the margin of error	40%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.1%2015-2019	10.0%2020-2024	−6.1 points	Within the margin of error	5%
Broadband subscriptions	44.2%2015-2019	78.6%2020-2024	+34 points	Improved	99%
Child poverty rate	40.5%2015-2019	53.3%2020-2024	+13 points	Within the margin of error	9%
High school diploma or higher	81.3%2015-2019	74.5%2020-2024	−6.9 points	Within the margin of error	3%
Home price to income ratio	1.5×2015-2019	1.0×2020-2024	−0.5×	Improved	94%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4382015-2019	0.5092020-2024	+0.071	Within the margin of error	10%
Median household income	$35,0002015-2019	$34,3582020-2024	−1.8%	Within the margin of error	6%
Poverty rate	39.4%2015-2019	52.6%2020-2024	+13 points	Within the margin of error	2%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	19.0%2015-2019	23.8%2020-2024	+4.8 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Rent-burdened households	28.8%2015-2019	29.1%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	54%
Unemployment rate	33.9%2015-2019	27.5%2020-2024	−6.4 points	Within the margin of error	97%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	37.1%2015-2019	24.3%2020-2024	−13 points	Improved	98%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like North Eagle Butte, South Dakota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of North Eagle Butte, South Dakota in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, North Eagle Butte, South Dakota itself moved −8.7 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,481 residents (±235)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

457 households (±66)

North Eagle Butte, South Dakota
South Dakota share

Under $25k39%†180
$25k–50k30%†137
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

457 households (±66)

North Eagle Butte, South Dakota
South Dakota share

Own41%189
Rent59%268

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

356 workers (±95)

North Eagle Butte, South Dakota
South Dakota share

Drive alone79%†283
Carpool1.1%†4
Public transit

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Dewey County, the county holding most of North Eagle Butte's residents.

Dewey County has 103 employer establishments, 191 for every 10,000 residents (0.77× the US rate of 248; 0.60× South Dakota's), with 778 paid employees at an average annual pay of $42,905. The Census Bureau also counts 290 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 103; 290 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 191; US 248 · South Dakota 317
Paid employees: 778
Average annual pay: $42,905; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Dewey County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	9	16.7	0.80×Too few to compare	53	$43,094	7
Religious organizations	7	13	2.34×Too few to compare	12	$19,917	—
Specialty trade contractors	7	13	0.84×Too few to compare	26	$34,769	26
Construction of buildings	6	11.1	1.47×Too few to compare	13	$32,538	8
Restaurants and other eating places	6	11.1	0.61×Too few to compare	22	$14,409	6
Building equipment contractors	4	7.4	1.23×Too few to compare	13	$40,385	—
Full-service restaurants	4	7.4	0.97×Too few to compare	8	$27,125	—
Gasoline stations	4	7.4	2.29×Too few to compare	79	$18,949	—
Heavy and civil engineering construction	4	7.4	6.48×Too few to compare	18	$65,111	—
Lessors of real estate	4	7.4	0.60×Too few to compare	6	$19,000	17
Banks and credit unions	3	5.6	1.72×Too few to compare	29	$70,172	—
Grocery and convenience stores	3	5.6	1.88×Too few to compare	60	$14,533	—

Rank places for an industry Open Dewey County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 5,387 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: North Eagle Butte is mostly in Dewey County.

See federal money in Dewey County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

North Eagle Butte, South Dakota is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Dusty JohnsonR-SD · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 4.7%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Dewey County36100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Dewey County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/4645548

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends