County · South Dakota

Buffalo County, South Dakota

Buffalo County, South Dakota has a quality-of-life score of 24 out of 100 (low), ranking #2,382 of 3,143 US counties. Within South Dakota it ranks #59 of 66 counties. It ranks best on dentists (high), effective property tax rate (low) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low). It ranks worst on life expectancy (low), median household income (low) and adult smoking (high).

24Low
Quality-of-life score
#2,382 of 3,143 counties
South Dakota
#59 of 66 in SD
Population
1,802 (2025)
Land area
471 mi²
Density
3.8 /mi²
FIPS code
46017

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 64 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the mapFederal contracts here
Location of Buffalo County, South Dakota

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US counties.

  • Safety52#1,476/3,096
  • Economy4#3,009/3,143
  • Housing90#324/3,140
  • Health5#3,002/3,144
  • Healthcare23#2,435/3,143
  • Environment91#277/3,108
  • Education8#2,878/3,144
  • Infrastructure14#2,710/3,144
  • Community0#3,143/3,144
  • Leisure & amenities44#1,768/3,143

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Buffalo County, South Dakota ranks highest and lowest among US counties (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

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.

Counties like Buffalo County, South Dakota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Buffalo County, 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.

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).

Income

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

Homes

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

Getting to work

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

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.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Public money & outcomes

Federal money per resident by fiscal year next to how the place changed, and, when its money jumped, how it compares with similar counties. A comparison, not cause and effect.

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.

Cities and towns in Buffalo County

Places whose residents live mostly in Buffalo County, largest first.

  1. Fort Thompson1,147
  2. Gann Valley6

Neighboring counties

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar counties

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.

JSON · /api/v1/places/46017