Counties where children have the best opportunity for economic mobility in South Dakota
This story originally appeared on Wealth Enhancement Group and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
Counties where children have the best opportunity for economic mobility in South Dakota
Americans have long understood that their birthplace can significantly affect their futures, and academics have increasingly been able to connect tangible early life factors like where they live and the friendships they've cultivated with potential future income.
Among the most recent studies shedding light on what's known as economic mobility—a person's ability to move themselves and their families up the socioeconomic ladder over their lifetime—are a series of papers authored by Harvard University researchers leveraging vast troves of social networking data.
As part of a national analysis, Wealth Enhancement Group used data from Harvard University's Social Capital Atlas project to identify where in South Dakota children have the best (and worst) chances at upward economic mobility.
The research draws on a privacy-protected dataset representing 21 billion friendships from Facebook made public through its parent company Meta's Data for Good project. It also uses anonymous tax records, according to the authors. The scholars assigned a score to locales according to how economically connected low- and high-income people living in the area have historically been over at least a decade, per that data. The dataset does not include scores for about 180 of the 3,000 or so counties in the U.S.
The research attempts to fill in the gaps of previous efforts to study American economic mobility that did not consider a person's vast social networks nor their importance in creating better lives for themselves and their children.
It turns out the ability to cultivate friendships linking people of different socioeconomic backgrounds with one another is the strongest factor in determining whether a child can surpass the earning potential of their parents, Harvard researchers found. They call this economic connectedness.
Read on to find out where economic connectedness is strongest in your state.
#50. Beadle County
- Median Income: $56,692
- Population: 18,959
--- 76.5% white
--- 0.9% Black
--- 1.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 7.7% Asian
#49. Pennington County
- Median Income: $62,546
- Population: 108,707
--- 80.6% white
--- 1.2% Black
--- 8.6% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1.2% Asian
#48. Walworth County
- Median Income: $51,746
- Population: 5,355
--- 79.5% white
--- 3.7% Black
--- 12% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.2% Asian
#47. Tripp County
- Median Income: $52,274
- Population: 5,615
--- 79.6% white
--- 0.7% Black
--- 16% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
#46. Marshall County
- Median Income: $69,236
- Population: 4,373
--- 84% white
--- 0.1% Black
--- 7.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#45. Fall River County
- Median Income: $51,007
- Population: 6,979
--- 84.7% white
--- 0% Black
--- 8.6% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1% Asian
#44. Minnehaha County
- Median Income: $66,502
- Population: 194,884
--- 83.2% white
--- 6.1% Black
--- 2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 2% Asian
#43. Moody County
- Median Income: $66,000
- Population: 6,335
--- 77.3% white
--- 0.9% Black
--- 11.9% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 2% Asian
#42. Butte County
- Median Income: $48,941
- Population: 10,167
--- 91% white
--- 0.4% Black
--- 1.7% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.2% Asian
#41. Yankton County
- Median Income: $67,052
- Population: 23,213
--- 89.5% white
--- 1.4% Black
--- 3.6% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.2% Asian
#40. Brule County
- Median Income: $60,857
- Population: 5,247
--- 83.7% white
--- 1.2% Black
--- 13.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#39. Hamlin County
- Median Income: $71,923
- Population: 6,127
--- 96.2% white
--- 0.2% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#38. Hughes County
- Median Income: $77,725
- Population: 17,829
--- 81.7% white
--- 0.1% Black
--- 11.6% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#37. Gregory County
- Median Income: $44,654
- Population: 4,004
--- 88.1% white
--- 1.2% Black
--- 7.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#36. Davison County
- Median Income: $50,900
- Population: 19,944
--- 92.1% white
--- 0.8% Black
--- 1.9% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.9% Asian
#35. Grant County
- Median Income: $70,483
- Population: 7,550
--- 92.9% white
--- 0.3% Black
--- 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1% Asian
#34. Brown County
- Median Income: $63,805
- Population: 38,471
--- 86.6% white
--- 2.5% Black
--- 3.5% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 3.5% Asian
#33. Stanley County
- Median Income: $76,402
- Population: 2,963
--- 91.1% white
--- 0.6% Black
--- 3.4% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#32. Jerauld County
- Median Income: $58,375
- Population: 1,811
--- 91.3% white
--- 0% Black
--- 1.6% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#31. Meade County
- Median Income: $68,242
- Population: 29,561
--- 89.3% white
--- 1.8% Black
--- 2.7% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1% Asian
#30. Sanborn County
- Median Income: $58,409
- Population: 2,371
--- 96% white
--- 0% Black
--- 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#29. Aurora County
- Median Income: $64,960
- Population: 2,649
--- 94.3% white
--- 1.1% Black
--- 2.5% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.1% Asian
#28. Custer County
- Median Income: $68,736
- Population: 8,360
--- 91.4% white
--- 0.8% Black
--- 2.9% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.3% Asian
#27. Haakon County
- Median Income: $51,016
- Population: 1,868
--- 94.1% white
--- 0.1% Black
--- 3.7% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#26. Codington County
- Median Income: $61,496
- Population: 28,289
--- 92.9% white
--- 0.9% Black
--- 2.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.6% Asian
#25. Hyde County
- Median Income: $66,328
- Population: 1,381
--- 92.3% white
--- 1.7% Black
--- 1.3% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#24. Lawrence County
- Median Income: $56,166
- Population: 25,687
--- 92% white
--- 1% Black
--- 2.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.7% Asian
#23. Clark County
- Median Income: $54,473
- Population: 3,791
--- 94.4% white
--- 0.6% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#22. Day County
- Median Income: $52,775
- Population: 5,487
--- 86.1% white
--- 0.1% Black
--- 10.8% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.1% Asian
#21. Lake County
- Median Income: $67,297
- Population: 11,358
--- 93.8% white
--- 0.4% Black
--- 2.3% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.1% Asian
#20. Edmunds County
- Median Income: $69,732
- Population: 4,005
--- 96.3% white
--- 0.3% Black
--- 1.4% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.1% Asian
#19. Spink County
- Median Income: $63,802
- Population: 6,408
--- 94.6% white
--- 1.7% Black
--- 0.7% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#18. Bon Homme County
- Median Income: $53,575
- Population: 7,020
--- 86.8% white
--- 1.6% Black
--- 6.7% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.2% Asian
#17. Clay County
- Median Income: $56,077
- Population: 14,816
--- 86.5% white
--- 1.8% Black
--- 3.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 2.9% Asian
#16. Brookings County
- Median Income: $59,178
- Population: 34,315
--- 90.6% white
--- 1.3% Black
--- 1.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 3.1% Asian
#15. Douglas County
- Median Income: $66,750
- Population: 2,838
--- 94.2% white
--- 1.5% Black
--- 1.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#14. Hutchinson County
- Median Income: $62,448
- Population: 7,412
--- 92.8% white
--- 0% Black
--- 0.6% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
#13. McCook County
- Median Income: $72,063
- Population: 5,676
--- 95.6% white
--- 0.2% Black
--- 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#12. Turner County
- Median Income: $66,199
- Population: 8,621
--- 95.8% white
--- 0.5% Black
--- 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#11. Perkins County
- Median Income: $59,432
- Population: 2,977
--- 94.4% white
--- 0% Black
--- 2.8% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.9% Asian
#10. Lincoln County
- Median Income: $87,560
- Population: 63,233
--- 92.6% white
--- 2.2% Black
--- 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1.5% Asian
#9. McPherson County
- Median Income: $54,324
- Population: 2,245
--- 96.3% white
--- 1.3% Black
--- 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.3% Asian
#8. Kingsbury County
- Median Income: $62,634
- Population: 5,131
--- 95.4% white
--- 0% Black
--- 1.3% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.1% Asian
#7. Union County
- Median Income: $80,238
- Population: 16,424
--- 92% white
--- 0.4% Black
--- 1.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1.5% Asian
#6. Deuel County
- Median Income: $70,808
- Population: 4,283
--- 97.8% white
--- 0% Black
--- 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#5. Miner County
- Median Income: $56,351
- Population: 2,293
--- 94.3% white
--- 0.1% Black
--- 0.8% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.9% Asian
#4. Hand County
- Median Income: $61,121
- Population: 3,061
--- 94.4% white
--- 0.2% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.3% Asian
#3. Hanson County
- Median Income: $75,132
- Population: 3,429
--- 96.6% white
--- 0% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#2. Faulk County
- Median Income: $53,056
- Population: 2,157
--- 97.2% white
--- 0% Black
--- 0.6% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#1. Potter County
- Median Income: $59,408
- Population: 2,613
--- 91.1% white
--- 0.2% Black
--- 2.9% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 2.3% Asian
This story features data reporting and writing by Dom DiFurio and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states.