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South Dakota

 

Summary Demographic State Data (and Source)
Population (2008 CB est.):	804,194
Population (2000 Census):	754,844
Foreign-Born Population (2008 FAIR )	17,985
Foreign-Born Population (2000 Census):	13,495
Share Foreign-Born (2008 FAIR est.):	2.2%
Share Foreign-Born (2000):	1.8%
Immigrant Stock (2000 CB est.):	43,000
Share Immigrant Stock (2000 est.):	5.7%
Naturalized U.S. Citizens (2006 CB est.):	6,116
Share Naturalized (2006):	36.3%
Legal Immigrant Admission (DHS 1997- 2006):	6,348
Refugee Admission (DHS 1997-2006):	2,730
Illegal Alien Population (2008 FAIR est.):	5,000
Projected 2050 Population  (2006 FAIR):	898,333

Extended Data

STATE POPULATION

Using the Current Population Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in July 2008 South Dakota’s population had increased to 804,194 residents, i.e., an annual average increase of about 5,945 residents since 2000. That is a rate of increase of about 0.8 percent per year. 

Net International Migration (NIM)

Based on the Current Population Survey, the Census Bureau estimated that between the 2000 Census and July 2008 the state’s population increased by about 4,590 residents from net international migration (more foreign-born arriving than leaving). That was an annual average increase of about 555 residents, i.e., less than one-tenth (9.3%) of the total increase (not including the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States).

The 2000 Census found 754,844 persons resident in South Dakota. This was an increase of 58,840 persons above the 1990 Census. The rate of increase (8.5%) was slightly lower than the national average of 9.9 percent population increase.

The 2000 population is about 22,000 more persons than the Census Bureau had expected to find in the state in 2000 when it issued its most recent state population projections in 1996. The significance of this is that the Census Bureau has concluded that much of the shortfall in their population estimates during the 1990s was due to an underestimation of the illegal alien population.

The population of South Dakota increased by 0.8 percent from 1980 to 1990 (from 690,768 to 696,004 residents).

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

Based on the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of South Dakota was 16,862 persons in 2006. The ACS is a large-scale, continuous sampling process designed to replace the need for a long-form in the 2010 Census. However, because the ACS does not have the same follow-up procedures as the Census to include non-respondents, it may underestimate the foreign-born population.

FAIR estimates that the foreign-born population of South Dakota was about 17,985 residents in July 2008. This meant a foreign-born population share of 2.2 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 540 people, which is about one-eleventh (9.1%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 33.3 percent compared to a 6.1 percent increase in the native-born population.

Immigration also contributes to population growth through the children born to immigrants in this country. Nationally the share of births to the foreign-born is about double their share of the population. A 4.4 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 535 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for nearly 1,075 persons added to the state’s population annually, i.e., more than one-sixth (18.1%) of the state’s overall population increase.

The 2000 Census found that 55 percent of South Dakota's foreign-born population had arrived in the state since 1990. This demonstrates the effects of the current mass immigration, and it is much higher share than the national average (43.7%). About one-third of the 1990 foreign-born population had arrived since 1980.

An indicator of the change in the immigrant population may be seen in data on the share of the population that speaks a language other than English at home. Between 1990 and 2000 the share of non-English speakers at home in South Dakota decreased from 6.5 percent to 4.8 percent. Less than two-fifths (35.9%) of those who said they spoke a language other than English at home in 2000 also said they spoke English less than very well.

Speakers of Foreign Languages (at home in South Dakota in the 2000 Census)
German	13,420
Dakota	10,680
Spanish	10,050
French	1,255
Norwegian	830
Czech	645
Vietnamese	555
Serbocroatian	525
Chinese	510
Tagalog	455
(Source: Census Bureau report: Language Spoken at Home for the Population 5 Years and Over, April 2004)

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey found that in 2006, the foreign born population was 16,852 residents, an increase of 24.9 percent since 2000. In comparison, the foreign-born population changed from 7,731 to 13,495 residents between 1990 and 2000, an increase of 74.6 percent.

The ten countries below constituted approximately 57.6% of the foreign-born population in South Dakota in 2006. Of the total foreign-born population, Mexico alone accounted for approximately one fifth percent (20.9). 

. .

Foreign-Born Change Since 1990: Top Ten Countries 1990-2006
Rank		Country	1990		Country	2000		Country	2006
1		Canada	892		Mexico	1,399		Mexico	3,516
2		Germany	816		Canada	1,010		Canada	1,152
3		United Kingdom	467		Germany	923		China	979
4		Philippines	352		Soviet Union	745		Vietnam	889
5		Norway	326		Korea	667		Korea	845
6		Korea	310		Vietnam	595		India	722
7		Soviet Union	306		Philippines	576		Germany	637
8		Mexico	258		Yugoslavia	564		Philippines	481
9		Netherlands	220		United Kingdom	540		Japan	270
10		Laos	200		Ethiopia	527		England	235
		All Others	3,584		All Others	5,949		All Others	7,146
		Total	7,731		Total	13,495		Total	16,862

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK

The Census Bureau estimated that there were about 43,000 people in South Dakota in 2000 who were "immigrant stock." That is a term that refers to immigrants and their children born here after their arrival. Based on that estimate, and the population of 754,844, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was 5.7 percent.

As the graph below shows, the amount of South Dakota’s population change due to the increase in the foreign stock is rising rapidly. Over the past 34 years the new immigrants and children born to them have added about 17,800 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 17.3 percent of the state’s population increase.

NATURALIZATION

Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 6,116 residents, or 36.3 percent, of the foreign-born population in South Dakota were citizens, compared to 5,452 residents, or 40.4 percent, in 2000.

Nationally, 40.3 percent of the foreign-born population was citizens in 2000 and 42.0 percent were citizens in 2006.

REFUGEE SETTLEMENT

South Dakota has received 2,730 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06), with 185 arriving in FY’06.

Under the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (HHS) assistance funding for FY'02 $322,753 is available for refugee employment training and other services programs in South Dakota based on a three-year refugee settlement program covering 1,286 refugees (an average of $251 per refugee). This allocation does not include a larger share (55%) of funding programs for communities heavily affected by recent Cuban and Haitian entrants, communities with refugees whose cultural differences make assimilation especially difficult, communities impacted by federal welfare reform changes, educational support to schools with significant refugee students, and discretionary grants. ORR grants for FY’05 and FY’06 respectively were $1,040,982 and $1,194,528.

LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY STUDENTS

Data are not available nationally on immigrant students (either legally or illegally resident in the United States) who are enrolled in primary and secondary schools (K-12). However, many of these students are enrolled in Limited English Proficiency/English Language Learning (LEP/ELL) instruction programs. Many may be U.S.-born, but the majority of these students may be assumed to be either immigrants or the children of immigrants, with the exception being areas with native Americans who speak a native language other than English.

In South Dakota, overall enrollment in 2002 (126,560) was 17.2 percent below enrollment in 1993. By contrast, LEP enrollment (5,762 - 4.6% of all enrollment) was 29.7 percent lower than a decade earlier.

Data on enrollment in LEP/ELL programs are collected by the federal government from school systems that receive Title VII funds for these special instruction programs. The data on LEP/ELL enrollment are understated because data from private schools that do not apply for Title VII assistance are sketchy.

FOREIGN STUDENTS

The 2006/07 annual report of the Institute of International Education (IIE) lists the number of foreign students attending post-secondary school in South Dakota as 732. Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in West Virginia from 1960-2000.

For information on foreign student issues see: Foreign Students in the United States.

ILLEGAL ALIENS

FAIR Estimate - FAIR estimates the state’s illegal alien population as of 2008 is as many as 5,000 persons. This is part of an overall estimate of the U.S. illegal alien population of about 13 million persons.

INS/DHS Estimate - The INS (now dissolved into the Dept. of Homeland Security) estimated in February 2003 that the resident illegal population in South Dakota was 2,250 as of January 2000. This number 1,450 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.

Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population of the state at less than 10,000 as of 2005.

COST OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

Incarceration Costs - The INS estimate of the illegal alien population released in February 2003 listed South Dakota as having an illegal alien population of less than 2,500 residents. This compares with the previous INS estimate of 800 illegal aliens as of October 1996. That estimate was a one-third increase over the 600 illegal alien residents previously estimated for October 1992.

South Dakota has received partial compensation under the federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) that was established in 1994 to compensate the states and local jurisdictions for incarceration of "undocumented," aliens who are serving time for a felony conviction or at least two misdemeanors.

The recent SCAAP amounts that South Dakota has received were:

The amount of SCAAP awards has been declining in both total distributions and even more as a share of the state’s expenses. In FY’99 the state received 38.6% of its costs for 10 prisoner years of detention. By FY’02, the state’s reported illegal alien detention rose more than four-fold to 47 prisoner years, while compensation rose by 93 percent.

Medical Costs - Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, hospitals with emergency rooms are required to treat and stabilize patients with emergency medical needs regardless whether or not they are in the country legally or whether they are able to pay for the treatment. Congress in 2003 enacted an appropriation of $250 million per year (for 4 years) to help offset some of the costs due to use of this service by illegal aliens. This amount has been allocated among the states based upon estimates of the illegal alien population and data on the apprehension of illegal aliens in each state. This amount compensates only a fraction of the medical outlays. For South Dakota, the proposed payment in fiscal year 2004 is $47,694.

Educational Costs - In our study Breaking the Piggy Bank: How Illegal Immigration is Sending Schools into the Red, we estimated based on 2004 data that educational expenditures for illegal immigration were costing the taxpayers in South Dakota and seven other states $29.8 million dollars annually. This cost was partially for educating students who were themselves illegally in the country ($12.4 million) and in part for the education of their siblings born in the United States to illegal residents ($17.4 million).

Projected Fiscal Costs  - In 2006 we estimated that South Dakota taxpayers are currently burdened with annual costs of about $5 million because of illegal aliens residing in the state. That estimate was based on only expenditures for education, emergency medical care and incarceration. We projected that those costs will rise unless we gain control over our borders and our worksites. If a new amnesty and increases in immigrants and guest workers were enacted, as proposed by business and ethnic advocacy groups, we project that the cost to the state’s taxpayers for those same programs would rise to $8 million per year in 2010 and to $14 million per year in 2020

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

You can view a listing of local immigration reform groups here.

STATE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION VOTING RECORD

You can view the voting record of your representatives in Congress regarding immigration issues in our voting report section.

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Immigrant Admissions

South Dakota Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year
1997	490
1998	356
1999	356
2000	465
2001	671
2002	902
2003	487
2004	727
2005	881
2006	1,013
Total	6,348

Recent immigrant admissions have increased by about 356 percent since adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. During the 1965-'69 period, annual admissions averaged about 175 immigrants. During the 2002-'06 period, admissions averaged about 800 immigrants.

The charts below show recent immigrant admissions and the cumulative INS immigrant admissions data since 1965. The number of annual admissions has ranged from 165 in FY'74 to 1,013 in FY'06. The cumulative total of admissions to South Dakota between fiscal years 1965 and 2006 was 15,825 immigrants.

The data for fiscal years 1989-91 were artificially raised slightly by the inclusion of former illegal aliens who were amnestied in 1986. According to INS data (1991) the number of amnesty applicants from South Dakota was 116 (72 pre-1982 residents and 44 agricultural workers) - the third lowest number in the United States after North Dakota and Vermont.

The data for FY'95, and FY'97-'99 were artificially low because the INS did not issue green cards to all the eligible applicants for adjustment of status who were already in the United States. In those four years, new immigration could have registered as much as 30 percent higher, if the INS had kept up with its workload.

Beginning with FY'01, the INS began to increase admissions as a result of reducing the size of the backlog of Section 245(i) adjustment of status cases, i.e., amnesty, for illegal aliens.

INS DATA BY NATIONALITY: FY'93 - FY'02

The INS data below are furnished for nationals of the countries with the largest number of immigrants admitted or adjusted to legal residence each year since 1993. The absence of data means that the total number of admissions to the United States by nationals of that country was not enough to merit detailed reporting in that year.

The nationalities may change each year, so the totals in some cases will not reflect all the immigrants of that nationality who have become legal immigrants in South Dakota during this period.

Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year
Country	FY'93	FY'94	FY'95	FY'96	FY'97	FY'98	FY'99	FY'00	FY'01	FY'02	Total
Bangladesh	-	-	-	0	0	0	1	1	-	7	9
Canada	28	53	20	37	25	15	26	22	25	22	273
China *	37	27	13	34	24	13	27	26	54	51	306
Colombia	0	0	1	2	4	1	4	0	4	6	22
Cuba	0	0	0	9	6	13	0	1	1	2	32
Dom. Rep.	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Ecuador	3	-	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5
El Salvador	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	1	4	7	18
Germany	15	10	5	-	13	12	11	13	21	28	128
Guatemala	1	0	0	3	1	3	5	5	14	35	67
Guyana	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	-	1	4
Haiti	0	3	0	0	1	1	1	2	1	4	13
Honduras	0	-	-	-	0	1	0	2	-	3	6
India	18	13	13	20	8	8	7	7	17	41	152
Iran	3	5	2	2	1	1	1	0	2	9	26
Ireland	1	4	-	-	0	0	0	0	-	5	8
Jamaica	1	0	2	1	0	1	0	2	0	1	8
Japan	-	5	-	-	3	8	2	6	7	5	36
Korea	22	15	23	13	17	15	20	7	14	15	161
Mexico	7	13	12	15	41	36	37	26	23	59	269
Nicaragua	-	-	-	-	2	0	1	3	5	6	17
Nigeria	-	-	0	0	1	0	1	3	-	17	22
Pakistan	4	2	0	1	0	1	2	2	2	1	15
Peru	3	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	8
Philippines	38	19	13	23	20	19	17	27	28	22	226
Poland	8	4	3	7	3	1	2	1	5	9	43
Sov. Un. *	95	66	73	29	59	36	41	74	84	106	663
Trin.& Tob.	-	0	-	-	0	0	1	1	-	1	3
U. Kingdom	14	10	7	10	11	6	9	4	11	5	87
Vietnam	44	18	9	20	23	6	13	16	13	13	175
Yugo. *	-	-	22	31	26	20	7	90	130	164	490
Other	198	303	275	259	199	138	116	122	206	254	2,070
Total	543	570	495	519	490	356	356	465	671	902	5,367

A dash (-) indicates that the data for that year were not published for that country in the INS Statistical Yearbook.
* China data include Hong Kong and Taiwan. Former USSR data continued since break-up (except FY'96-'97 and ’01 include only Russia and Ukraine). Former Yugoslavia data continued since break-up.

The 31 nationalities above represent more than three-fifths (61.4%) of all immigrant settlement and adjustment in South Dakota during this ten-year period. The largest source country of the new immigrants, the former Soviet Union, accounts for 12.4 percent of the total. 

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Impact of Immigration

All numbers are from the U.S. Census Bureau unless otherwise noted.Additional Census Bureau, INS, and other immigration-related data are available for South Dakota.

Population Change

South Dakota population increased by 8.6 percent between 1990 and 2000, and by 3.5 percent between 2000 and 2006, bringing South Dakota's total population to approximately 782,000.

Approximately 14.2 percent of the total population increase between 2000 and 2006 in South Dakota was directly attributable to immigrants. ¹

FAIR estimates the illegal alien population in 2005 at 6,000.²

According to an estimate of the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2005 there were less then 10,000 illegal aliens living in South Dakota.

FAIR’s projected annual fiscal costs to South Dakota taxpayers for emergency medical care, education and incarceration resulting if an amnesty is adopted for illegal residents.
Current	2010	2020
$5,000,000	$8,000,000	$14,000,000

Population Profile

Foreign-Born Population

Environmental and Quality of Life Profile

Water: Between 2000 and 2006, South Dakota’s immigrant population had a net increase of one-fourth (24.9%).³This compares with a 3.2 percent increase in the native-born population and that included the children born to immigrants. When the U.S.-born children of these immigrants are included, immigrants account for 23 percent of the state’s net growth. South Dakota has a per-capita, public-supply, water demand of 123.2 gallons per day.⁴ If current growth trends continue, by 2050 the state’s population is expected increase by well over 100,000, a net increase of 14.4 since 2006. This means that in 2050, human demand for water in South Dakota could increase by 13.8 million gallons per day.

Prone to drought, South Dakota may find extra demand detrimental when dry times inevitably strike. South Dakota is currently emerging from a drought that covered much of the state, and still plagues the southwestern corner. However, even in areas no longer under the drought status, reservoirs are still well below historical averages.⁵ Mike Gillispie, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, noted the precarious nature of South Dakota. In as little as two dry weeks he said the state could be reemerged in a serious drought.⁶

Additionally, southern South Dakota gets groundwater from the High Plains/Ogallala aquifer. Aquifer depletion has caused increased pumping costs and decreased land values, forcing some farmers into bankruptcy.⁷ In some areas water levels of the Ogallala have declined in excess of 150 feet.⁸ Although the Ogallala Aquifer is an enormous water source, even it is not inexhaustible as long as pumping exceeds replenishment.

The Ogallala is critical to farming in the center of the nation. However, it is replenished slowly because of the relatively dry area. At least 12 billion cubic meters are being drawn from it every year. It's drying up.⁹ When this happens, the High Plains Region may become little more than desert

Traffic: As population growth put more traffic on the roads, the average commute for South Dakota residents increased  from 14 minutes in 1990 to 16.6 minutes in 2005. ¹⁰, ¹¹  12 percent of commuters in South Dakota have a commute that is 45 minutes or more. ¹²

Disappearing open space: Each year, South Dakota loses 11,600 acres of open space and farmland due to development. ¹³

Crowded housing: In 2005 over 6,000 South Dakota households were defined as crowded or severely crowded. ¹⁴ Studies show that a rise in crowded housing often correlates with an increase in the number of foreign-born. ¹⁵, ¹⁶

Poverty: In 2005 31.8 percent of immigrants in South Dakota had incomes below the poverty level, a 172.8 percent increase since 2000. Among non-citizens, the poverty rate climbs to 38.6 percent. ¹⁷

Education: Between 1990 and 2000, South Dakota’s elementary and high school enrollment increased eight percent. ¹⁸

Solid Waste: South Dakota generates 0.68 tons of solid waste per capita. ¹⁹

Endnotes

1. FAIR estimate based on the 2006 Current Population Survey.
2. "Estimates of the Unauthorized Migrant Population for
3. States based on the March 2005 CPS", Pew Hispanic Center.
4. U.S. Census Bureau 2006.
5. U.S. Geological Survey 2000.
6. Associated Press. “Today: Drought status is a hard call.” June 26, 2008.
7. Matthew Gruchow. “South Dakota’s drought is over.” Argus Leader Media. June 18, 2008.
8. Nancy Cole “Shrinking aquifer looms as big problem for farms.” Arkansas Democrat Gazette. September 24, 2006.
9. V.L. Mcguire. “Ground Water Depletion in the High Plains Aquifer.” USGS Fact Sheet. 2007.
10. Heidi Stevenson. “How Corporations Drain Our Aquifers for Profit (Part 2).” Natural News. June 11, 2008.
11. Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990 and 2000, Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
12. Selected Economic Characteristics: 2005 Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau.
13. “U.S. Population 2007 Data Sheet,” Population Reference Bureau.
14. “State Rankings by Acreage and Rate of Non-Federal Land Developed,” Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
15. Selected Housing Characteristics: 2005 Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau.
16. Haya El Nasser, “U.S. Neighborhoods Grow More Crowded,” USA Today, July 7, 2002.
17. Randy Capps, “Hardship Among Children of Immigrants: Findings from the 1999 National Survey of America’s Families,” Urban Institute, 2001.
18. South Dakota State Factsheet,” Migration Information Source, Migration Policy Institute.
19. Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.

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