Languages Spoken in South Dakota: Map and County Data
Languages Spoken Across South Dakota Counties
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, about 50,800 people age 5 and older in South Dakota speak a language other than English at home, representing 6.5% of the state’s population age 5+. Spanish is the most spoken non-English language, with about 16,800 speakers, followed by other Native North American languages and German.
Most Spoken Non-English Languages in South Dakota
The most spoken non-English languages in South Dakota are Spanish, other Native North American languages, and German. Spanish is spoken at home by about 16,800 people, or roughly 2.1% of the state’s population age 5+.
Key Language Findings for South Dakota
About 50,800 people in South Dakota speak a language other than English at home, representing 6.5% of residents age 5 and older.
The most spoken non-English languages in South Dakota are Spanish, other Native North American languages, and German.
Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in South Dakota, with about 16,800 speakers, representing roughly 2.1% of residents age 5 and older.
Minnehaha County has the largest Spanish-speaking population in South Dakota, with about 6,100 speakers.
Minnehaha County has the largest population speaking a language other than English at home, with more than 15,200 residents.
While Spanish is the most spoken non-English language statewide, another language leads in 32 of the 66 South Dakota counties, including other Native North American languages in Oglala Lakota County.
How Language Use Varies Across South Dakota Counties
Language patterns differ sharply by county. Spanish is the leading non-English language across most of South Dakota, but county-level rankings show large local communities speaking other Native North American languages, German, African languages, other Asian languages, other Indic languages, Chinese, French, and other languages.
Minnehaha County has the largest number of residents speaking a language other than English at home, while Oglala Lakota County has the highest share relative to its age-5+ population, at 24.3%. In Oglala Lakota County, other Native North American languages are the leading non-English language, showing how statewide rankings can differ substantially at the local level.
English Proficiency and Language Access in South Dakota
Speaking a language other than English at home does not necessarily mean someone has limited English proficiency. Census table B16001 also separates language groups by whether residents report speaking English "very well" or less than "very well," providing additional context for organizations planning language access services. For a broader look at limited English proficiency across the country, explore Boostlingo's LEP State Map.
Plan Language Access Around the Communities You Serve
Boostlingo helps healthcare, government, education, legal, and business organizations connect people with interpreting and translation services across hundreds of languages.
Explore Interpreter ServicesSearch or sort the full county dataset to compare the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home and the six most spoken non-English languages in each county.
| County | % Other Language | Other-Language Speakers | #1 Language | #2 Language | #3 Language | #4 Language | #5 Language | #6 Language | Population Age 5+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oglala Lakota County | 3,069 | Other Native North American 2,945 | French 62 | Tagalog / Filipino 26 | Spanish 24 | Navajo 10 | German 1 | 12,606 | |
| Ziebach County | 562 | Other Native North American 528 | Other Asian 17 | Spanish 8 | German 4 | Navajo 4 | French 1 | 2,603 | |
| Jackson County | 513 | Other Native North American 384 | Spanish 110 | Korean 14 | African languages 3 | French 2 | — | 2,939 | |
| Todd County | 1,439 | Other Native North American 1,368 | Spanish 43 | Tagalog / Filipino 12 | Thai 7 | Italian 6 | German 3 | 8,648 | |
| Beadle County | 2,748 | Spanish 1,291 | Other Asian 1,128 | German 248 | Korean 31 | Other Native North American 18 | Other West Germanic 14 | 16,681 | |
| Corson County | 623 | Other Native North American 570 | German 25 | Arabic 10 | Spanish 9 | French 5 | Other Indo-European 2 | 3,768 | |
| McPherson County | 296 | German 192 | Spanish 53 | Other Native North American 43 | Vietnamese 8 | — | — | 2,156 | |
| Mellette County | 221 | Other Native North American 193 | Navajo 10 | German 9 | Spanish 7 | Other Slavic 2 | — | 1,874 | |
| Brule County | 554 | German 468 | Other Native North American 37 | Spanish 34 | Other Slavic 15 | — | — | 4,948 | |
| Bennett County | 327 | Other Native North American 312 | Spanish 11 | German 4 | — | — | — | 3,096 | |
| Dewey County | 517 | Other Native North American 468 | Spanish 23 | German 21 | Navajo 4 | Russian 1 | — | 4,961 | |
| Minnehaha County | 15,207 | Spanish 6,070 | African languages 2,470 | Other Indic 817 | German 772 | Serbo-Croatian 721 | Chinese 523 | 165,166 | |
| Walworth County | 470 | Spanish 173 | Tagalog / Filipino 132 | German 85 | Other Native North American 25 | Vietnamese 21 | Other Pacific Island 12 | 5,157 | |
| Buffalo County | 143 | Other Native North American 112 | Other Pacific Island 23 | Spanish 5 | German 3 | — | — | 1,804 | |
| Moody County | 467 | Other Native North American 165 | Spanish 110 | Tagalog / Filipino 86 | French 47 | Scandinavian 19 | Chinese 14 | 5,981 | |
| Hanson County | 232 | German 84 | Spanish 63 | Other Native North American 52 | French 33 | — | — | 3,070 | |
| Aurora County | 172 | Spanish 122 | Other Native North American 14 | German 12 | Portuguese 11 | French Creole 7 | Other West Germanic 4 | 2,538 | |
| Brookings County | 2,112 | Spanish 698 | Chinese 287 | French 150 | German 134 | Arabic 134 | Other Indic 103 | 31,108 | |
| Yankton County | 1,357 | Spanish 680 | German 225 | Other Native North American 154 | Other Slavic 56 | Arabic 46 | African languages 41 | 21,279 | |
| Clay County | 837 | Spanish 203 | Other Native North American 113 | German 102 | Other Asian 77 | Gujarati 71 | Chinese 37 | 13,316 | |
| Edmunds County | 232 | German 110 | French 58 | Spanish 56 | Scandinavian 7 | Japanese 1 | — | 3,813 | |
| Spink County | 368 | German 199 | Spanish 119 | Other Native North American 32 | African languages 6 | Yiddish 5 | Italian 4 | 6,167 | |
| Tripp County | 311 | Other Native North American 145 | Spanish 69 | German 35 | Navajo 31 | Tagalog / Filipino 17 | French 6 | 5,206 | |
| Hutchinson County | 401 | German 202 | Spanish 89 | French 82 | Other Native North American 9 | Russian 8 | Scandinavian 5 | 6,766 | |
| Bon Homme County | 381 | Spanish 155 | Other Native North American 82 | Other Slavic 60 | German 19 | Scandinavian 17 | Tagalog / Filipino 14 | 6,688 | |
| Charles Mix County | 471 | Other Native North American 313 | Spanish 64 | Other Slavic 47 | French 19 | Navajo 16 | Scandinavian 6 | 8,450 | |
| Brown County | 1,955 | German 571 | Spanish 477 | Other Asian 406 | Chinese 121 | African languages 61 | Other Native North American 56 | 35,551 | |
| Campbell County | 81 | German 76 | Spanish 5 | — | — | — | — | 1,469 | |
| Marshall County | 241 | Spanish 177 | Italian 22 | German 17 | Other Native North American 15 | Polish 7 | Other Asian 2 | 4,405 | |
| Grant County | 350 | Spanish 202 | German 59 | Other Native North American 27 | African languages 26 | Other West Germanic 15 | Other / unspecified 14 | 6,831 | |
| Lawrence County | 1,182 | Spanish 505 | German 134 | Other Slavic 134 | Other Native North American 74 | Russian 64 | Korean 54 | 23,456 | |
| Pennington County | 4,486 | Spanish 1,535 | Other Native North American 989 | German 592 | Tagalog / Filipino 177 | Italian 157 | Chinese 153 | 98,578 | |
| Lyman County | 160 | Other Native North American 116 | Arabic 24 | Spanish 7 | German 7 | French 6 | — | 3,529 | |
| Custer County | 345 | Spanish 200 | Other Slavic 45 | German 41 | Other Native North American 34 | Other / unspecified 9 | Russian 4 | 8,067 | |
| Clark County | 142 | Spanish 65 | Other Asian 29 | African languages 23 | Other Native North American 15 | Scandinavian 7 | Other / unspecified 2 | 3,355 | |
| Fall River County | 280 | Other Native North American 157 | Spanish 41 | Other Pacific Island 24 | French 17 | Polish 15 | German 8 | 6,608 | |
| Roberts County | 396 | Other Native North American 223 | Spanish 69 | Scandinavian 35 | German 20 | French 19 | African languages 18 | 9,471 | |
| Jerauld County | 78 | Spanish 44 | Other West Germanic 17 | Other Native North American 12 | German 5 | — | — | 1,898 | |
| Davison County | 717 | Spanish 374 | Other Native North American 160 | German 100 | Russian 33 | Japanese 18 | Korean 17 | 18,532 | |
| Gregory County | 153 | Spanish 44 | Other Native North American 41 | Vietnamese 32 | German 16 | Other West Germanic 9 | Other Slavic 8 | 3,969 | |
| Hamlin County | 207 | Spanish 126 | German 27 | Other West Germanic 19 | Other / unspecified 14 | Scandinavian 8 | Portuguese 7 | 5,390 | |
| Lincoln County | 1,725 | Spanish 719 | Urdu 205 | German 184 | Chinese 157 | African languages 135 | Hungarian 60 | 45,608 | |
| Hughes County | 583 | Spanish 280 | Other Native North American 99 | Other Asian 92 | German 77 | French 11 | Scandinavian 9 | 16,236 | |
| Stanley County | 96 | Spanish 67 | German 26 | Other Native North American 3 | — | — | — | 2,776 | |
| Union County | 484 | Spanish 274 | Other Indic 93 | German 40 | Other Native North American 21 | Portuguese 17 | French 14 | 13,964 | |
| Turner County | 262 | German 123 | Spanish 66 | Scandinavian 22 | Other Native North American 16 | Portuguese 9 | Russian 8 | 7,807 | |
| Deuel County | 134 | Spanish 81 | German 16 | Other Slavic 11 | Scandinavian 7 | Italian 6 | Other Native North American 5 | 4,093 | |
| Kingsbury County | 151 | Spanish 91 | Other West Germanic 24 | German 16 | Scandinavian 11 | Chinese 9 | — | 4,761 | |
| Meade County | 781 | Spanish 327 | German 111 | Other Native North American 49 | Tagalog / Filipino 45 | Russian 44 | Japanese 42 | 24,583 | |
| Douglas County | 81 | Other Slavic 38 | German 18 | Spanish 15 | Other Native North American 6 | Other West Germanic 3 | Other Asian 1 | 2,808 | |
| Codington County | 678 | Spanish 322 | German 93 | Other Native North American 87 | Arabic 36 | Scandinavian 30 | Hungarian 25 | 25,828 | |
| Day County | 136 | German 33 | Other Native North American 31 | Chinese 19 | Other Asian 18 | Spanish 16 | Scandinavian 12 | 5,298 | |
| Lake County | 286 | Spanish 126 | Chinese 78 | Arabic 34 | Korean 14 | German 9 | French 5 | 11,295 | |
| Potter County | 54 | Tagalog / Filipino 26 | Other Native North American 17 | German 6 | Other West Germanic 5 | — | — | 2,200 | |
| Harding County | 30 | German 18 | Spanish 5 | Other / unspecified 4 | Scandinavian 3 | — | — | 1,232 | |
| Perkins County | 64 | Spanish 27 | Other Native North American 12 | German 8 | Scandinavian 7 | Greek 3 | Japanese 3 | 2,822 | |
| McCook County | 113 | Spanish 64 | German 31 | Other Native North American 7 | Other / unspecified 3 | French 2 | Scandinavian 2 | 5,202 | |
| Sully County | 29 | Other West Germanic 10 | Other Native North American 6 | German 5 | Russian 5 | Spanish 3 | — | 1,371 | |
| Miner County | 44 | Other West Germanic 18 | German 17 | Spanish 8 | Serbo-Croatian 1 | — | — | 2,159 | |
| Hand County | 58 | Spanish 31 | Japanese 17 | German 7 | Scandinavian 3 | — | — | 3,198 | |
| Sanborn County | 39 | Spanish 27 | Other Native North American 9 | German 3 | — | — | — | 2,224 | |
| Butte County | 152 | German 35 | Arabic 28 | Spanish 24 | Korean 20 | Scandinavian 19 | Polish 14 | 9,584 | |
| Hyde County | 18 | Spanish 8 | Other Native North American 6 | Other Slavic 4 | — | — | — | 1,315 | |
| Jones County | 10 | Spanish 8 | German 2 | — | — | — | — | 753 | |
| Haakon County | 17 | French 7 | German 7 | Japanese 2 | Spanish 1 | — | — | 1,984 | |
| Faulk County | 15 | Spanish 7 | Other Native North American 4 | Tagalog / Filipino 3 | German 1 | — | — | 2,199 |
About the Data
Data on this page comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2011–2015 5-Year Estimates, table B16001, Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over. Statewide and county estimates use the same Census table so the figures can be compared consistently across the page.
The estimates describe languages spoken at home among residents age 5 and older. Census estimates include margins of error, particularly for smaller counties and less common language groups.