Lawrence County, South Dakota

thumb|200px|US Highway 14a w

Lawrence County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,768, making it the 8th most populous county in South Dakota, and was estimated to be 29,459 in 2025.

Lawrence County is coextensive with the Spearfish, SD Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Rapid City-Spearfish, SD Combined Statistical Area.

History

Lawrence County was created January 11, 1875, and was organized in 1877. The county was named for "Colonel" John Lawrence, who came to the county as first treasurer in 1877. Lawrence had previously served in the Dakota Territorial Legislature, as a Sergeant at Arms for the United States House of Representatives, and a US Marshal for the Dakota territory. After retirement, he continued to act as county road supervisor and as an election judge. The title "Colonel" was honorary, bestowed by the governor of the Dakota Territory.

Geography

Lawrence County lies on the west side of South Dakota. Its west boundary line abuts the east boundary line of the state of Wyoming. The terrain of Lawrence County consists of mountains in the south and west, falling off to the hilly northeast portion. A tributary of the Redwater River flows east-northeasterly along a portion of the county's north boundary line, delineating that portion of the line. The terrain generally slopes to the county's northeast corner; its highest point is Crooks Tower, at 7,137'.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.03%) is water. It is the 41st largest county in South Dakota by total area.

Major highways

20px Interstate 90
20px U.S. Highway 14
U.S. Highway 14A
20px U.S. Highway 85
23px U.S. Highway 385
20px South Dakota Highway 34

Transit

Jefferson Lines

Adjacent counties

Butte County – north
Meade County – east
Pennington County – south
Weston County, Wyoming – southwest
Crook County, Wyoming – west

Protected areas

Source:

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|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020

As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 11,812 estimated households in Lawrence County with an average of 2.16 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $66,766. Approximately 11.1% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Lawrence County has an estimated 64.7% employment rate, with 34.1% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 95.4% holding a high school diploma.

The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (95.3%), Spanish (2.3%), Indo-European (1.2%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.7%), and Other (0.5%).

Lawrence County, South Dakota – racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size: 95%;"

! Race / ethnicity (NH = non-Hispanic)

! Pop. 1980 !! Pop. 1990 !! Pop. 2000 !! Pop. 2010 !!

| White alone (NH)

| 17,734 (96.70%) || 19,726 (95.50%) || 20,631 (94.63%) || 22,349 (92.75%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |22,935 (89.01%)

| Black or African American alone (NH)

| 27 (0.15%) || 29 (0.14%) || 45 (0.21%) || 87 (0.36%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |128 (0.50%)

| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

| 331 (1.80%) || 514 (2.49%) || 454 (2.08%) || 457 (1.90%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |486 (1.89%)

| Asian alone (NH)

| 29 (0.16%) || 56 (0.27%) || 70 (0.32%) || 157 (0.65%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |196 (0.76%)

| Pacific Islander alone (NH)

| — || — || 11 (0.05%) || 6 (0.02%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |18 (0.07%)

| Other race alone (NH)

| 21 (0.11%) || 3 (0.01%) || 2 (0.01%) || 10 (0.04%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |51 (0.20%)

| Mixed race or multiracial (NH)

| — || — || 193 (0.89%) || 419 (1.74%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |1,032 (4.00%)

| Hispanic or Latino (any race)

| 197 (1.07%) || 327 (1.58%) || 396 (1.82%) || 612 (2.54%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |922 (3.58%)

| Total

| 18,339 (100.00%) || 20,655 (100.00%) || 21,802 (100.00%) || 24,097 (100.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |25,768 (100.00%)

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 25,768 people, 11,444 households, and 6,689 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 14,163 housing units at an average density of .

Of the residents, 19.2% were under the age of 18 and 23.3% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 43.5 years. For every 100 females there were 97.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.7 males.

The racial makeup of the county was 90.5% White, 0.5% African American, 2.1% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 0.7% from some other races, and 5.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.6% of the population.

There were 11,444 households in the county, of which 22.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 25.4% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. In fact, Lawrence County was the second-westernmost county, behind only Utah's Kane County, to never vote for Franklin D. Roosevelt. The only Democratic presidential candidates to carry Lawrence County have been Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and 1916, and William Jennings Bryan in 1896. Lawrence County has also been one of the most consistent strongholds for the Libertarian Party, giving their 2016 nominee, Gary Johnson, one of the largest vote share out of any county outside his home state of New Mexico, with 7.9%. In 2020, Libertarian Party nominee Jo Jorgensen received 3.9% of the popular vote, her second best performance in any county during the election cycle.

Education

School districts include:

Lead-Deadwood School District 40-1
Spearfish School District 40-2

References

External links

Lawrence County, SD government website