akashic
1876–2024
Day County, South Dakota
Day County·South Dakota

Day County has voted Republican for as long as anyone can remember.

A northeastern prairie county where Republican margins have widened each cycle since 2008

18762024·38 elections
Day County, South Dakota · Jon Roanhaus · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+30
in 2024
Archetype
Republican loyalist
since the recent cycles
Population
5,437
2024 ACS
Most similar
Buffalo County
WI · similarity 0.99
11 precincts · 2,932 votes cast
Trump · R+30
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−29.9%
1,0001,8762,932
2020R
−27.6%
1,0521,8692,964
2016R
−23.8%
9741,6272,747
2012D
+6.2%
1,4971,3202,873
2008D
+12.9%
1,7851,3723,205
2004D
+4.1%
1,8171,6713,540
2000D
+4.1%
1,6231,4923,197
1996D
+15.8%
1,8401,2823,533
1992D
+11.2%
1,5781,1613,725
1988D
+13.8%
2,1371,6163,774
1984R
−5.3%
1,9322,1504,101
1980R
−17.3%
1,7202,5074,543
1976D
+23.3%
2,6101,6174,257
1972D
+15.9%
2,7191,9714,699
1968D
+8.5%
2,4632,0624,707
1964D
+25.7%
3,2351,9145,149
1960D
+3.8%
2,8352,6265,461
1956D
+5.7%
2,9712,6525,623
1952R
−21.6%
2,3513,6485,999
1948D
+12.5%
3,1462,4385,681
1944R
−2.1%
2,4872,5935,080
1940D
+0.3%
3,2973,2776,574
1936D
+21.3%
3,3352,1135,729
1932D
+31.1%
3,9101,9836,191
1928R
−9.2%
2,6423,1805,865
1924R
−47.4%
3082,1933,975
1920R
−50.3%
4362,7394,579
1916D
+29.6%
1,7589072,872
1912D
+33.8%
78702,331
1908R
−29.4%
8131,6162,729
1904R
−59.9%
3832,0772,826
1900R
−16.9%
1,0921,5582,764
1896D
+2.4%
1,2301,1712,436
1892R
−20.2%
3627521,932
1888
No data
1884
No data
1880
No data
1876
No data
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
100.0%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
0.0%
speak English only
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Mainline Protestant
39.4%
Catholic & Orthodox
23.5%
Methodist
3.4%
Baptist
1.5%
Pentecostal & Holiness
0.9%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 31.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Day County's population has contracted by roughly a third since 1980, leaving an older, rural electorate concentrated in Webster that has shifted decisively toward Republican presidential candidates over the past two decades.

The Republican margin in Day County reached its widest at sixty points in 1904. The margin in 2024 was thirty points, in line with the county's deep historical pattern.

Day County's loyalty is rooted in its place. Median household income of $66,033, a 84% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 5,437 together describe a community whose political habits are deeply settled. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Buffalo County and Mitchell County.