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Sioux Falls, Rapid City Metros Include 45% of South Dakota Population

Sioux Falls and Rapid City continue to chug along in population growth. New Census estimates show the Sioux Falls metro area (Minnehaha, Lincoln, Turner, and McCook counties) at 237,251 residents. As of 2012, the Rapid City metro area (Pennington and Meade counties) has 138,738 residents. That's 28.5% and 16.6%, respectively, of South Dakota's estimated 833,354 population... or 9 out of 20 South Dakotans living in those two metro hubs. Reach just a little further to include counties closely linked to those metros (Lake and Moody to Sioux Falls; Lawrence to Rapid City), and you likely get an even 50% of South Dakotans whose lives revolve quite significantly around those two major hubs.

The Governing analysis finds 135 metros out of 381 surveyed seeing more population growth from international immigrants than from domestic migration and births outpacing deaths. But Sioux Falls and Rapid City are still growing their own, and lots of them. Over just the last two years, the Census estimates that Sioux Falls saw 7,889 more residents come from in-country migration and births outpacing deaths and 1,067 immigrants from overseas. Rapid City saw 3,866 in domestic and natural growth and 294 in overseas immigrants.

On both counts, Sioux Falls is drawing immigrants foreign and domestic at a slightly higher rate than Rapid City, suggesting that diverse job opportunities trump Black Hills recreation in economic development.

5 Comments

  1. larry kurtz 2013.03.28

    Growth opportunities are in services for off-grid adaptations: catchment, PV, wind, gardening, sustainable housing.

    Rewild the West.

  2. Nick Nemec 2013.03.28

    Growth in both cities is fed by the hollowing out of the center of the state.

  3. G-Man 2013.03.29

    It's like this in Oregon too. Almost 2/3 of the state's population is heavily concentrated in the Willamette Valley metro areas of: Portland, Salem, and Eugene-Sringfield.

  4. John 2013.03.29

    If you really want local, South Dakota, economic growth then keep South Dakota's money here instead of shipping it to the Wall Street casino. North Dakota was doing great BEFORE its recent oil boom. They had no mortgage / foreclosure crisis - because they use their state funds to support investing in local banks and local projects.
    http://www.salon.com/2013/03/29/north_dakota_is_bringing_socialism_back_partner/

    Also look at those salaries for leaders of the Bank of North Dakota. There is no justification on earth to pay more than that to bankers or the state's retirement investment officers.

  5. grudznick 2013.03.29

    That's a government bank. Big government. Here in South Dakota we don't want our government to be our bank or our doctor or our nanny. That's a libby point of view.

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