Oglala Lakota County vs Union County

A side-by-side comparison of Oglala Lakota County and Union County: population, income, housing, and more.

Oglala Lakota County and Union County are counties in South Dakota. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Union County has the higher population (16,916 vs 13,587 in Oglala Lakota County). Union County has the higher median household income ($84,137 vs $34,769 in Oglala Lakota County). Union County has the higher median home value ($269,500 vs $45,600 in Oglala Lakota County).

Population, income & housing

	Oglala Lakota County	Union County
Population	13,587	16,916
Median age	27.0 yrs	40.4 yrs
Median household income	$34,769	$84,137
Median home value	$45,600	$269,500
Median gross rent	$563	$1,055
Housing units	3,461	7,438
Homeownership rate	53.5%	71.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	9.8%	36.5%
Unemployment rate	12.9%	3.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Oglala Lakota County	Union County
Population	14,335 → 13,587 (-5.2%)	15,368 → 16,916 (+10.1%)
Median household income	$31,997 → $34,769 (+8.7%)	$70,378 → $84,137 (+19.6%)
Median home value	$27,400 → $45,600 (+66.4%)	$179,300 → $269,500 (+50.3%)
Median gross rent	$514 → $563 (+9.5%)	$854 → $1,055 (+23.5%)

Oglala Lakota County

Population

14,33513,587

Median household income

$31,997$34,769

Median home value

$27,400$45,600

Median gross rent

$514$563

Union County

Population

15,36816,916

Median household income

$70,378$84,137

Median home value

$179,300$269,500

Median gross rent

$854$1,055

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Oglala Lakota County	Union County
Under 5	9.2%	5.3%
5 to 17	26.9%	18.9%
18 to 24	12.1%	6.9%
25 to 34	14.7%	12.2%
35 to 44	10.9%	13.2%
45 to 54	10.3%	11.7%
55 to 64	8.8%	13.0%
65 to 74	4.7%	11.8%
75 and over	2.3%	7.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Oglala Lakota County	Union County
White (non-Hispanic)	6.6%	89.0%
Black or African American	0.1%	0.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	91.4%	0.9%
Asian	0.0%	1.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.0%	0.2%
Two or more races	0.3%	3.2%
Hispanic or Latino	1.7%	4.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Oglala Lakota County	Union County
No high school diploma	22.0%	5.1%
High school graduate	38.2%	28.0%
Some college or associate's	30.0%	30.4%
Bachelor's degree	6.4%	22.8%
Graduate or professional degree	3.4%	13.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Oglala Lakota County	Union County
Drove alone	66.6%	82.5%
Carpooled	13.4%	7.1%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	5.3%	1.4%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.3%
Worked from home	2.3%	7.5%
Other means	12.4%	1.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Oglala Lakota County	Union County
1-unit, detached	65.1%	70.9%
1-unit, attached	1.8%	4.4%
2 to 4 units	1.1%	4.4%
5 to 19 units	1.8%	7.4%
20 or more units	0.0%	8.8%
Mobile home & other	30.2%	4.3%

Poverty & households

	Oglala Lakota County	Union County
Poverty rate	52.8%	7.3%
Average household size	4.84	2.36
Mean commute (minutes)	15	19
Median year structure built	1987	1992