Study Pinpoints When South Dakota’s Population Will Top 1 Million

At the beginning of 2023, South Dakota was one of just five states in America with a population of fewer than one million people.

STATES WITH CURRENT POPULATIONS OF FEWER THAN 1,000,000 PEOPLE

• South Dakota: 923,484
• North Dakota: 780,588
• Alaska: 732,984
• Vermont: 647,156
• Wyoming: 583,279

But a new study says that's going to be changing in the not-so-distant future.

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According to Dakota Institute, South Dakota ranked fifth in population growth from July 2021 to July 2022 (+1.5%). They estimate that if that rate continues, the state should top the 1,000,000 mark by 2030.

South Dakota has seen a number of population ups and downs since becoming a state in 1889.

In the first 40 years of statehood, the number of people living in the Mount Rushmore State nearly doubled - from 348,600 in 1890 to 692,849 in 1930.

After that, the state's population numbers began to stagnate.

From 1930 to 1990, South Dakota only gained 4,000 people and actually lost people in the 1940 census (-7.2%) and the 1970 census (-2.2%).

The population took off again with an influx of 190,633 from the 1990 census to the 2020 census.

SOUTH DAKOTA POPULATION BY DECADE (Wikipedia)

• 1890: 348,600
• 1900: 401,570
• 1910: 583,888
• 1920: 636,547
• 1930: 692,849
• 1940: 642,961
• 1950: 652,740
• 1960: 680,514
• 1970: 665,507
• 1980: 690,768
• 1990: 696,004
• 2000: 754,844
• 2010: 814,180
• 2020: 886,667