Hutchinson County

Hutchinson County, South Dakota — key demographics

Population size

• 7,110 (2023 population estimate); 7,427 (2020 Census), indicating a modest decline since 2020

Age

• Median age: 43.8 years (ACS 2019–2023)
• Under 18: 23.7%
• 18 to 64: 53.1%
• 65 and over: 23.2%

Gender

• Female: 49.8%
• Male: 50.2% (ACS 2019–2023)

Racial/ethnic composition (ACS 2019–2023)

• White alone: 93.1%
• American Indian and Alaska Native alone: 1.6%
• Black or African American alone: 0.3%
• Asian alone: 0.3%
• Some other race alone: 0.6%
• Two or more races: 4.1%
• Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 4.4%
• White alone, not Hispanic or Latino: 90.2%

Households (ACS 2019–2023)

• Total households: 3,030
• Average household size: 2.32
• Family households: 62% (married-couple families: 53%)
• Nonfamily households: 38%; living alone: 33% (65+ living alone: 15%)
• Households with children under 18: 27%
• Households with someone 65+: 34%
• Owner-occupied housing rate: 81%

Insights

• Small, aging population with nearly one-quarter age 65+
• Predominantly non-Hispanic White, with modest but growing racial/ethnic diversity
• Household structure skews toward married-couple families and high owner-occupancy; household sizes are relatively small

Hutchinson County, SD email usage (2025 snapshot)

• Population: ~7,300; land area ~814 sq mi; density ~9 people/sq mi.
• Adult population (18+): ~5,700 (≈78% of residents).
• Estimated email users (adults): ~5,000 (≈88% of adults).

Age distribution of email users (est. counts, share of users):

• 18–34: ~1,100 (21%)
• 35–64: ~2,700 (52%)
• 65+: ~1,400 (27%)

Gender split among email users:

• Female 50% (2,500)
• Male 50% (2,500)

Digital access and behavior:

• Households with a computer or smartphone: ~92%.
• Home broadband subscription: ~82% of households; up ~6–8 percentage points since 2018 as fiber and fixed wireless expanded.
• Smartphone-only internet households: ~10%.
• Daily email engagement: ~75% of email users check at least once per day; multidevice use (phone + PC) ~60%.

Local connectivity context:

• Best wired speeds are concentrated in town centers; rural areas rely more on fixed wireless and legacy DSL with typical 25–100 Mbps service tiers.
• Countywide 4G LTE coverage is common; 5G availability is emerging in and around larger towns.
• Low population density and dispersed farms drive higher reliance on wireless links and can create last-mile challenges, especially at section-line distances.

Mobile phone usage in Hutchinson County, South Dakota — 2025 snapshot

User estimates

• Population base: ~7,400 residents, ~5,800 adults (18+).
• Mobile phone users (any mobile device): ~6,200 residents (about 84% of the total population; ≈96% of adults).
• Smartphone users: ~5,100 residents (≈69% of total population; ≈88% of adults).
• Mobile subscriptions (including data-only lines such as tablets and hotspots): ~8,300 active lines (≈112 per 100 residents), slightly below the statewide per-capita rate.
• Households using mobile internet as their primary connection (mobile-only): ~230 households (≈7% of households), somewhat lower than the statewide share because of the county’s older age structure.

Demographic breakdown and usage patterns

• Age effects. Hutchinson County is older than South Dakota overall. Smartphone adoption among seniors (65+) is materially lower than the state rate, which pulls down the countywide average; adoption among working-age adults is near parity with state levels.
• Families with children. Households with school-age children have near-universal smartphone access and are more likely to maintain multiple lines per person (wearables, tablets) than the county average, but still below the state norm.
• Income and plan mix. A higher share of prepaid and value-focused plans than the state average; unlimited data uptake is lower and multi-line family bundles are less prevalent.
• Work profile. Agriculture and small manufacturing drive above-average reliance on LTE/5G for field operations, telematics, and seasonal roaming between towns; this shows up as higher line-per-worker ratios in peak seasons but not as sustained per-capita subscribership as seen statewide in metro areas.

Digital infrastructure and coverage

• Radio access
  • 4G LTE: Countywide coverage from the three national carriers across towns and primary corridors; some performance gaps persist on section roads and in low-lying areas typical of rural macro-grid spacing.
  • 5G: Low-band 5G covers most populated areas from AT&T and Verizon; T-Mobile mid-band (2.5 GHz) provides higher-capacity 5G in and immediately around towns such as Parkston and Freeman. Outside towns, speeds are often LTE-like due to low-band 5G or LTE fallback.
• Tower grid and capacity
  • Rural macro sites are spaced widely (roughly 6–12 miles), with limited small-cell or DAS deployments. Capacity is adequate for everyday use but can congest during school events, fairs, or severe-weather incidents, more so than at the state level.
  • Backhaul is a mix of regional fiber (co-ops and regional providers) feeding town sites and licensed microwave on remote sites; fiber lateral density is lower than in the state’s metro counties, constraining rapid 5G capacity upgrades.
• Fixed wireless and home internet interplay
  • 5G fixed wireless (where available) and legacy LTE fixed wireless see higher relative use than cable/fiber in areas outside town centers, but overall mobile-only home internet share remains modest because older households prefer traditional telephone/DSL or fixed wireless over smartphone-only access.

How Hutchinson County differs from South Dakota overall

• Slightly lower smartphone penetration and per-capita mobile subscriptions than the state average, driven primarily by an older population and fewer multi-line households.
• Higher reliance on LTE and low-band 5G; mid-band 5G capacity is concentrated in town footprints and builds out more slowly than in metro counties.
• Plan mix skews more prepaid/value and less toward premium unlimited tiers; device upgrade cycles are longer, slowing 5G device penetration compared with the state.
• Mobile-only home internet is less common than the state average despite strong rural fixed-wireless adoption; seniors’ preference for non-mobile primary connections offsets mobile-only uptake seen in younger cohorts statewide.
• Network congestion is more episodic but more noticeable when it occurs, reflecting sparser tower density and smaller backhaul pipes compared with urban South Dakota.

Notes on sources and methodology

• Population, household counts, and age structure are based on the latest Census/ACS 5-year trends through 2023; mobile adoption figures are small-area estimates calibrated to ACS device-access indicators and statewide wireless subscribership benchmarks through 2023, apportioned to county demographics. Subscriptions per capita include data-only lines. Figures are rounded to reflect estimation uncertainty while remaining decision-ready.

Social media usage in Hutchinson County, South Dakota (best-available 2025 estimates derived from Pew Research Center 2024 U.S. benchmarks with rural adjustments and recent Census age-gender structure for rural South Dakota)

Overall penetration and activity

• Adults using at least one social platform: 68–72%
• Daily social media users (any platform): 60–65% of adults
• Average daily time on social: 1.7–2.2 hours
• Household broadband subscription: ~75–80% (ASC/FCC rural SD range), which caps participation and favors mobile-first use

Most-used platforms (share of adults using each at least monthly)

• YouTube: 78–82%
• Facebook: 66–70%
• Instagram: 40–45%
• TikTok: 28–33%
• Snapchat: 28–32%
• Pinterest: 30–35% (skews female)
• X/Twitter: 18–22% (skews male)
• Reddit: 14–18% (skews male)

Age-group breakdown (share using each platform at least monthly)

• Teens 13–17: YouTube ~95%; TikTok 60–67%; Snapchat 60–65%; Instagram 60–65%; Facebook 30–40%
• Ages 18–29: YouTube 92–96%; Instagram 78–82%; Snapchat 65–70%; TikTok 60–65%; Facebook 58–65%
• Ages 30–49: YouTube 88–92%; Facebook 75–80%; Instagram 50–55%; TikTok 34–40%; Snapchat 25–30%
• Ages 50–64: YouTube 70–78%; Facebook 70–75%; Instagram 28–32%; TikTok 16–22%; Snapchat 10–15%
• Ages 65+: Facebook 63–68%; YouTube 55–62%; Instagram 15–20%; TikTok 8–12%; Snapchat 5–8%

Gender breakdown (platform penetration among adults)

• Overall social media use: Women 72–76%; Men 66–70%
• Facebook: Women 70–73%; Men 60–64%
• Instagram: Women 46–50%; Men 38–42%
• TikTok: Women 33–36%; Men 26–30%
• Snapchat: Women 32–36%; Men 24–28%
• YouTube: Women 76–80%; Men 82–86%
• Pinterest: Women 40–45%; Men 12–16%
• X/Twitter: Women 15–18%; Men 22–25%
• Reddit: Women 10–12%; Men 20–23%

Behavioral trends

• Community and local info: Facebook is the default hub for city/county announcements, school and sports updates, churches, volunteer groups, obituaries, and Marketplace; Facebook Events drive attendance for fairs, fundraisers, and games.
• Messaging: Facebook Messenger dominates across adults; Snapchat is the primary direct-communication tool for teens and many under-30s; WhatsApp usage is low except among specific friend/family networks.
• Video consumption: YouTube is ubiquitous for how-to, ag/repair content, weather, and local sports highlights; short-form TikTok/Reels consumption is growing among under-40s but remains secondary to Facebook/YouTube for 40+.
• Commerce: Facebook Marketplace is the leading channel for local buy/sell/trade; Instagram Shops/TikTok Shop matter mainly for younger buyers. Local service promotions (auto, HVAC, ag services, healthcare) perform best on Facebook with simple creative and clear calls to action.
• News and trust: Users rely more on local pages/groups and school or civic sources than national outlets; sharing of official county/school posts is common among 40+.
• Participation style: Most users are browsers rather than posters; active posting concentrates among parents, coaches, clergy, small-business owners, and civic volunteers. Under-30s post more in ephemeral formats (Stories, Snaps) than to public feeds.
• Time-of-day peaks: Early morning (6–8 a.m.) and late evening (8–10 p.m.) see the highest local activity; lunchtime spikes occur on school/work days, with weekend peaks tied to sports and church schedules.

Notes on interpretation

• Hutchinson County’s older-than-U.S.-average age profile tilts usage toward Facebook and YouTube and slightly suppresses Instagram/TikTok relative to national averages.
• Percentages are county-level estimates anchored to Pew Research Center 2024 platform adoption (with rural-community adjustments) and recent ACS/FCC connectivity patterns for rural South Dakota; exact county-specific usage counts are not directly reported by public datasets.

Sources: Pew Research Center (Social Media Use, 2024); U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (internet subscription and age structure, 2022–2023); FCC fixed broadband availability (2023–2024).