John Lettieri, President and CEO of Economic Innovation Group | Official Website
John Lettieri, President and CEO of Economic Innovation Group | Official Website
Among all government transfer programs, Social Security was the largest contributor. Medicare was the second largest, totaling $2.39 billion, equating to $2,629 per capita and making up 24.5% of total transfers.
Medicaid was the third largest contributor in South Dakota in 2022, accounting for $1.3 billion, averaging $1,430 per capita, and represented 13.4% of transfers in the state. Income Maintenance transfers provided another $1.21 billion, averaging $1,327 per capita and comprising 12.4% of government support, making them the smallest contributors.
Statewide, including all transfer types, government transfer payments totaled $9.75 billion, and accounted for 15.7% of residents’ total income, with an average of $10,713 per resident.
Government transfer payments are non-repayable funds provided by federal, state, or local governments to support individuals in need. These payments aim to stabilize economic conditions and provide financial support during hardships. Key programs include Social Security transfers (retirement benefits), Medicare transfers (healthcare for seniors), Medicaid transfers (healthcare for low-income individuals), and income maintenance transfers (financial assistance for basic needs).
With 18% of the population aged 65 and older, South Dakota has a significant demand for programs like Social Security and Medicare. The total per capita income in South Dakota, excluding government transfers was $57,463.4, which is noticeably below the county's total income of $68,176, emphasizing the role of government transfers in overall income.
When comparing 2022 to the previous year, South Dakota saw an increase in its Social Security transfer dependency by 0.2%, reflecting both rising transfer amounts and stagnating or insufficient other sources of income.
Government transfers have long been a modest financial safety net, historically comprising only a small fraction of Americans' income. However, since the 1970s—sometimes dubbed the “Great Transfer-mation”—dependency has surged from 8.2% (or $2,022 per capita in inflation-adjusted 2022 dollars) in 1970 to 17.6% (or $11,542 per capita) in 2022 nationwide. In South Dakota, reliance on government transfers has similarly increased from 9.2% (or $1,821 per capita) in 1970 to 15.7% (or $10,713 per capita) in 2022.
According to the Economic Innovation Group’s analysis, these trends are not merely short-term responses to economic pressures but rather reflect a profound, long-term transformation in how government support is integrated into American life. The study illustrates that structural shifts—from rising healthcare expenses and demographic changes to stagnant wages—have significantly increased dependency on government transfers.
| County | Rank | Dependency on Transfers (%) | % Population 65+ | Social Security Transfers (%) | Medicare Transfers (%) | Medicaid Transfers (%) | Income Maintenance Transfers (%) | Per Capita Transfers ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnehaha County | 1 | 13.2% | 13.8% | 5.1% | 3.2% | 1.8% | 1.6% | $9,501 |
| Pennington County | 2 | 18.8% | 20.1% | 7% | 4.5% | 2% | 1.9% | $13,016 |
| Lincoln County | 3 | 7.2% | 14.7% | 3.3% | 2.1% | 0.3% | 0.6% | $6,016 |
| Brown County | 4 | 14.2% | 18.2% | 5.3% | 3.8% | 1.7% | 1.6% | $10,173 |
| Lawrence County | 5 | 18.2% | 24.2% | 7.3% | 4.6% | 1.5% | 1.6% | $12,355 |
| Meade County | 6 | 18.5% | 17% | 6.8% | 4% | 1.4% | 2.1% | $9,884 |
| Codington County | 7 | 15.4% | 19.6% | 5.8% | 4.2% | 1.7% | 1.7% | $10,402 |
| Brookings County | 8 | 13.2% | 13.7% | 5.1% | 3% | 1.3% | 1.6% | $7,422 |
| Yankton County | 9 | 16.1% | 21.6% | 6.1% | 4% | 2.4% | 1.8% | $10,995 |
| Davison County | 10 | 18.1% | 20.6% | 6.4% | 4.5% | 2.7% | 2.2% | $11,263 |
| Oglala Lakota County | 11 | 45% | 7.6% | 4.1% | 5% | 16.3% | 14.3% | $16,063 |
| Beadle County | 12 | 18.1% | 17.5% | 5.9% | 4.6% | 3.3% | 2.7% | $10,542 |
| Hughes County | 13 | 16.3% | 18.6% | 5.9% | 4.3% | 2.2% | 1.8% | $10,433 |
| Union County | 14 | 7.4% | 19.2% | 3.4% | 2% | 0.5% | 0.6% | $9,048 |
| Todd County | 15 | 42.4% | 7.9% | 4.6% | 5.4% | 13.9% | 13.4% | $15,184 |
| Fall River County | 16 | 34% | 30.9% | 10.8% | 7.5% | 3.3% | 2.9% | $18,578 |
| Custer County | 17 | 23.2% | 33.3% | 9.5% | 6% | 1.4% | 1.6% | $14,538 |
| Butte County | 18 | 24.4% | 20.5% | 8.4% | 5.9% | 2.8% | 3.3% | $11,679 |
| Clay County | 19 | 17% | 12.6% | 5.5% | 3.3% | 2.7% | 2.6% | $8,230 |
| Roberts County | 20 | 23.1% | 20.9% | 7.3% | 4.7% | 4% | 3.9% | $12,054 |
| Lake County | 21 | 15% | 24.9% | 5.9% | 4% | 1.6% | 1.5% | $10,999 |
| Charles Mix County | 22 | 23.5% | 18.8% | 5.9% | 5.9% | 4.6% | 4.3% | $12,675 |
| Spink County | 23 | 20.8% | 24.4% | 5% | 4.4% | 8.5% | 1.4% | $18,057 |
| Grant County | 24 | 17.4% | 24.2% | 6.7% | 5.1% | 1.8% | 1.5% | $12,264 |
| Turner County | 25 | 14.5% | 19.9% | 5.5% | 4.1% | 1.8% | 1.4% | $10,318 |
| Hutchinson County | 26 | 15.9% | 21.5% | 6% | 4.4% | 2% | 1.6% | $11,636 |
| Day County | 27 | 20.6% | 26.9% | 6.8% | 6.3% | 2.3% | 2.2% | $14,712 |
| Dewey County | 28 | 27.8% | 10.1% | 4.4% | 4.5% | 7.4% | 7.9% | $15,130 |
| Tripp County | 29 | 20.7% | 24.1% | 6% | 4.6% | 4.7% | 2.9% | $13,620 |
| Walworth County | 30 | 22.6% | 24.4% | 7.8% | 5.7% | 3.4% | 2.7% | $14,174 |
| Bon Homme County | 31 | 19.2% | 21.4% | 7.1% | 5.6% | 1.9% | 2.1% | $10,466 |
| Kingsbury County | 32 | 16.5% | 23% | 6.4% | 5.4% | 1.3% | 1.5% | $12,245 |
| Moody County | 33 | 14.9% | 20% | 6% | 4% | 1.1% | 1.8% | $9,890 |
| McCook County | 34 | 14.5% | 18.5% | 5.4% | 3.8% | 2.4% | 1.5% | $10,622 |
| Hamlin County | 35 | 14.5% | 14.4% | 5.2% | 3.6% | 1.8% | 1.8% | $9,225 |
| Brule County | 36 | 16.5% | 20.6% | 5.1% | 3.3% | 3.9% | 2.1% | $10,627 |
| Gregory County | 37 | 23.4% | 26.2% | 7.5% | 6.7% | 2.9% | 3.2% | $14,244 |
| Marshall County | 38 | 15.1% | 23% | 5.8% | 4.4% | 1.6% | 1.6% | $11,217 |
| Corson County | 39 | 30.8% | 13.3% | 4.9% | 4.3% | 8.2% | 9.7% | $12,764 |
| Deuel County | 40 | 16.6% | 22.2% | 6.7% | 5% | 1.3% | 1.6% | $10,917 |
| Bennett County | 41 | 28.7% | 14.3% | 4.8% | 4.5% | 8.4% | 7.5% | $13,953 |
| Hanson County | 42 | 16.6% | 16.2% | 8.4% | 5.2% | 0.3% | 1.2% | $13,071 |
| Lyman County | 43 | 19.9% | 18.4% | 5.7% | 3.4% | 4.2% | 4% | $11,518 |
| Edmunds County | 44 | 11.1% | 23.2% | 4.2% | 3.3% | 1.3% | 1.1% | $10,258 |
| Jackson County | 45 | 31.5% | 13.4% | 5.6% | 6.1% | 7.6% | 7.8% | $13,928 |
| Clark County | 46 | 12.9% | 23.6% | 5% | 3.1% | 1.2% | 1.6% | $9,922 |
| Perkins County | 47 | 24.1% | 26.5% | 8.2% | 6.7% | 3.1% | 2.6% | $13,042 |
| Douglas County | 48 | 17.8% | 24.3% | 6% | 5.8% | 2.4% | 1.8% | $13,152 |
| Stanley County | 49 | 13.9% | 22.8% | 6.2% | 3.7% | 0.6% | 1.2% | $11,371 |
| Hand County | 50 | 12.7% | 25.3% | 5% | 4.1% | 1.2% | 1.2% | $10,857 |
| Potter County | 51 | 15.4% | 27.5% | 5.5% | 5.6% | 1.6% | 1.1% | $13,023 |
| McPherson County | 52 | 17.6% | 30.3% | 6.4% | 5.8% | 1.7% | 2% | $12,757 |
| Jerauld County | 53 | 24.7% | 29.9% | 8.6% | 10.1% | 1.8% | 2.1% | $18,017 |
| Aurora County | 54 | 18.2% | 21.3% | 6.1% | 5.5% | 1.5% | 2.2% | $10,730 |
| Faulk County | 55 | 15.4% | 24.1% | 4.7% | 6.4% | 1.5% | 1.3% | $13,640 |
| Miner County | 56 | 17.2% | 23.4% | 6.2% | 5.3% | 2.4% | 1.7% | $12,487 |
| Buffalo County | 57 | 42.8% | 9.9% | 5.6% | 5% | 13.7% | 13.8% | $15,128 |
| Mellette County | 58 | 31.9% | 16.1% | 6% | 5.2% | 8.5% | 8.1% | $14,481 |
| Ziebach County | 59 | 33.5% | 11% | 3.4% | 3.5% | 9% | 13.7% | $11,283 |
| Sanborn County | 60 | 17.3% | 21.9% | 5.9% | 5% | 1.3% | 2.1% | $11,042 |
| Haakon County | 61 | 16.4% | 26.8% | 5.5% | 5.8% | 1.3% | 1.6% | $12,759 |
| Campbell County | 62 | 14.5% | 31.7% | 5.6% | 5% | 0.7% | 1.4% | $11,838 |
| Hyde County | 63 | 16.3% | 25.7% | 5.7% | 4.9% | 2.2% | 1.7% | $13,052 |
| Sully County | 64 | 8.9% | 27.1% | 4.7% | 2.6% | 0.1% | 0.7% | $9,050 |
| Harding County | 65 | 15.1% | 21.7% | 6.2% | 3.5% | 0.4% | 2.1% | $7,762 |
| Jones County | 66 | 14.3% | 27.1% | 6% | 3.4% | 0.9% | 2% | $11,344 |
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