Veterans Disability Compensation in South Dakota

Public VA data, reported as published. Figures below come from VA's "Disability Compensation Recipients by County" files (data.va.gov), fiscal years 2019 and 2025. VA did not publish county files for 2021 or 2022. Counts under 10 are suppressed by VA and shown as "under 10".

In fiscal year 2025, 24,031 veterans in South Dakota received VA disability compensation, a +40.3% change from 17,132 in 2019. 20% of them are rated 100% (up from 10% in 2019), and 2,487 are women (1,531 in 2019).

24,031

Recipients (FY2025)

+40.3%

Change since 2019

20%

Rated 100% (FY2025)

Rating levels in South Dakota, 2019 vs 2025

Share of South Dakota compensation recipients at each combined-rating level. Nationwide, the share rated 100% roughly doubled over this period; see the shift toward higher ratings for the full story.

0% to 20%

26.5% (was 34.4% in 2019)

30% to 40%

12.6% (was 17.9% in 2019)

50% to 60%

13.5% (was 14.9% in 2019)

70% to 90%

27.4% (was 22.7% in 2019)

100%

20% (was 10% in 2019)

Shares are computed over recipients whose rating band VA reported (small counts are suppressed). What each level pays: benefits by rating.

Who they are

Of South Dakota's FY2025 recipients with a reported age, 23% are 17 to 44, 34% are 45 to 64, and 43% are 65 or older. 2,487 are women and 19,289 are men.

South Dakota has 230 VA-accredited VSO representatives recorded in the free directory, about 95.71 per 10,000 compensation recipients. See VSO representatives in South Dakota.

Recipients by county

Every South Dakota county VA reported for FY2025, with the FY2019 comparison where the same county existed. "Rated 100%" is that county's share of recipients at the 100% level. "VSO reps" is the count of VA-accredited VSO representatives whose listed ZIP code falls in that county, an approximate, ZIP-based measure; many representatives serve neighboring counties too.

County	FY2019	FY2025	Change	Rated 100%	VSO reps
Pennington	4,081	5,242	+28.4%	20.9%	20
Minnehaha	3,334	4,714	+41.4%	19.3%	89
Lincoln	763	1,705	+123.5%	21.6%	7
Meade	1,140	1,695	+48.7%	23.1%	4
Lawrence	596	859	+44.1%	22.4%	0
Brown	527	719	+36.4%	17%	7
Codington	405	635	+56.8%	18.7%	7
Brookings	417	613	+47%	16.6%	4
Fall River	391	598	+52.9%	28.4%	8
Custer	285	517	+81.4%	21.7%	4
Davison	334	503	+50.6%	21.3%	6
Yankton	330	485	+47%	19.4%	4
Union	249	376	+51%	20.5%	0
Butte	202	356	+76.2%	20.2%	3
Hughes	282	340	+20.6%	15.9%	12
Lake	270	294	+8.9%	16.7%	8
Beadle	223	279	+25.1%	16.8%	3
Clay	199	247	+24.1%	17%	0
Turner	160	243	+51.9%	15.6%	3
Roberts	174	197	+13.2%	19.8%	3
Day	114	178	+56.1%	20.2%	6
Grant	146	174	+19.2%	21.8%	4
Hutchinson	96	163	+69.8%	19%	1
Oglala Lakota	146	159	+8.9%	18.9%	0
Charles Mix	136	155	+14%	16.1%	3
Bon Homme	99	143	+44.4%	11.9%	0
Kingsbury	85	133	+56.5%	14.3%	0
McCook	92	131	+42.4%	17.6%	2
Moody	96	129	+34.4%	21.7%	0
Hamlin	95	110	+15.8%	18.2%	0
Walworth	99	105	+6.1%	19%	0
Brule	68	102	+50%	11.8%	6
Spink	93	99	+6.5%	19.2%	0
Deuel	79	97	+22.8%	14.4%	0
Gregory	87	91	+4.6%	19.8%	0
Hanson	95	91	-4.2%	15.4%	0
Tripp	69	80	+15.9%	n/a	0
Stanley	54	75	+38.9%	21.3%	0
Dewey	64	73	+14.1%	21.9%	0
Todd	86	71	-17.4%	18.3%	0
Perkins	59	70	+18.6%	n/a	0
Aurora	47	65	+38.3%	24.6%	3
Clark	49	65	+32.7%	18.5%	0
Sanborn	24	64	+166.7%	n/a	0
Lyman	40	62	+55%	n/a	0
Marshall	53	62	+17%	19.4%	3
Hand	53	59	+11.3%	n/a	0
Jerauld	42	55	+31%	25.5%	0
Miner	31	55	+77.4%	n/a	0
Douglas	38	50	+31.6%	n/a	0
Edmunds	46	50	+8.7%	n/a	0
Corson	42	49	+16.7%	n/a	0
McPherson	39	46	+17.9%	26.1%	3
Bennett	36	41	+13.9%	26.8%	0
Faulk	28	41	+46.4%	24.4%	0
Potter	41	41	0%	n/a	0
Campbell	20	26	+30%	n/a	0
Haakon	19	23	+21.1%	n/a	0
Jackson	28	21	-25%	n/a	4
Mellette	23	21	-8.7%	n/a	0
Sully	22	21	-4.5%	n/a	0
Hyde	21	20	-4.8%	n/a	0
Harding	10	19	+90%	n/a	3
Buffalo	47	17	-63.8%	n/a	0
Ziebach	13	12	-7.7%	n/a	0

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