Poverty Rates by County

With the highest poverty rate in the country, half of all residents of Ziebach County in 2010 were surviving on incomes below $22,350 for a family of four. Two other western South Dakota counties -- Todd and Shannon -- were not far behind. 

In the Black Hills, county poverty rates in 2010 as reported by the U.S. Census were:

Butte - 15.3 percent.

Custer - 11.2 percent.

Fall River - 16.7 percent.

Lawrence - 14.0 percent.

Meade - 10.6 percent.

Pennington - 15.2 percent.

Shannon - 47.3 percent.

To put these figures in context, the U.S. Census said that the poverty rate in South Dakota was 14.6 percent. In the United States it was 15.3 percent. The Census has also developed several maps that show county-by-county poverty rates for the entire country:

1.  Percent of entire U.S. population below the poverty rate in 2010.

2.  Percent of persons under age 18 in U.S. population below the poverty rate in 2010.

3.  Median household income in 2010.

The U.S. Census provides an explanation of how the poverty rate is calculated.