Meade County

Meade County, South Dakota — key demographics (U.S. Census Bureau; primarily 2019–2023 ACS 5-year estimates; population count from 2020 Census)

Population size

• Total population (2020 Census): 29,852

Age

• Median age: around 36–37 years
• Under 18: about 25%
• 65 and over: about 14–15%

Gender

• Male: about 53%
• Female: about 47%

Race and ethnicity

• White alone (non-Hispanic): roughly 80–82%
• American Indian and Alaska Native: about 7–8%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race): about 7%
• Two or more races: about 3–4%
• Black or African American: about 1–2%
• Asian: about 0.6–0.8%

Households

• Number of households: roughly 11,000–11,500
• Average household size: about 2.6
• Family households: about 70–72% of households
• Married-couple households: about 54–56% of households
• Households with children under 18: about 30–32%
• Homeownership rate: roughly 73–75%

Notes: Figures reflect the latest ACS 5-year estimates for small-area reliability; decennial count provided for population. Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding and overlapping ethnicity/race definitions.

Meade County, SD email landscape (2025 estimate):

• Users: ≈22,000 adult email users (about 92% of ~24k adults; total county population ≈31k).
• Age distribution of email users: 18–34 ≈29% (6.5k); 35–54 ≈33% (7.3k); 55–64 ≈18% (4.0k); 65+ ≈19% (4.2k). Email use is near‑universal among under‑65 adults and high (mid‑80s%) among 65+.
• Gender split of users: ≈51% male, 49% female, mirroring local demographics.
• Digital access and trends: Home broadband adoption is strong in the I‑90 corridor (Sturgis–Summerset–Piedmont) with widespread cable/fiber and rising speeds; more remote ranching areas rely more on fixed wireless and satellite. Roughly one in ten households still lacks a home broadband subscription, and about 8–10% are smartphone‑only. 5G coverage is robust along I‑90, improving email access on mobile. Ongoing state/federal builds are extending fiber to rural townships, narrowing gaps.
• Local density/connectivity context: Meade is South Dakota’s largest county by land area (3,471 sq mi) with low population density (9 residents/sq mi), which drives a pronounced urban‑rural connectivity gradient and seasonal traffic spikes around the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Summary: Mobile phone usage in Meade County, South Dakota

Headline estimates (residents)

• Resident smartphone users: 26,000–29,000 people (roughly 85–90% of residents age 13+ own a smartphone, consistent with U.S. rural adoption but slightly below South Dakota’s urbanized corridors)
• Active mobile lines: 36,000–41,000 lines (1.2–1.4 lines per resident, reflecting business/second lines and IoT; lines per capita tend to run a bit higher than the state average here due to tourism- and ranching-related multi-line ownership)
• Cellular home internet (fixed wireless) households: roughly 18–25% of households rely primarily on mobile/fixed wireless for home broadband, above South Dakota’s overall share in metro counties but lower than the most remote reservation and prairie counties

What’s different from the South Dakota average

• Seasonal surge is extreme: The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally draws several hundred thousand visitors each August, producing one of the largest temporary mobile traffic spikes in the Northern Plains. Carriers routinely deploy temporary towers (COWs/COLTs), extra spectrum carriers, and backhaul to Sturgis and the I‑90 corridor—an atypical, event-driven capacity profile compared with the rest of the state.
• Corridor vs. ranchland split: Coverage and 5G performance are strong and getting stronger along I‑90 (Piedmont, Summerset, Black Hawk, Sturgis) with mid‑band 5G now common; north and east into the county’s ranching areas remain LTE‑first with lower spectral depth and larger cells. This urban–rural gradient is sharper than in many South Dakota counties that lack a major interstate and marquee event city.
• Higher reliance on mobile for small business: A larger share of sole proprietors (tourism, trades, trucking, ranching) use multiple lines and mobile POS/hotspotting compared with the state average, lifting lines-per-capita and daytime uplink usage near Sturgis and along I‑90.
• ACP exposure lower than state hotspots: Post‑2024 Affordable Connectivity Program wind‑down had a smaller relative impact here than in South Dakota’s reservation counties, so Meade saw less churn from subsidized fixed broadband to mobile-only than the statewide rural average.

Demographic profile and usage patterns (resident base)

• Age
  • 13–24: ~17–20% of users; near-universal smartphone adoption among teens and young adults; heavy social/video usage
  • 25–44: ~32–35% of users; highest device-per-user rate (work + personal + wearables); hotspot use common for field work
  • 45–64: ~27–29%; high adoption but more voice/SMS and navigation-heavy; moderate video
  • 65+: ~15–18%; adoption trails younger cohorts but continues to rise; telehealth and messaging drive steady use
• Household structure: Exurban growth near the Pennington County line (Black Hawk/Summerset) pushes up 5G home internet take‑up; scattered ranch homesteads farther north lean on LTE fixed wireless where cable/fiber are absent.
• Race/ethnicity: Meade County’s population is more non-Hispanic White and has a smaller American Indian share than South Dakota overall; the result is slightly higher credit approval and postpaid penetration than the statewide rural average, but also fewer ACP-era subsidized lines than in reservation counties.

Digital infrastructure and performance

• Coverage and technology
  • 5G mid‑band: Deployed along I‑90 and population centers (Sturgis, Piedmont/Black Hawk/Summerset fringe). Typical user speeds in these zones range from ~100–400 Mbps down, with improved uplink; capacity is further boosted seasonally for the Rally.
  • LTE-only or low-band 5G: North and east of SD‑79/SD‑34 the network transitions to larger cells with lower mid-band depth; typical speeds ~5–50 Mbps down depending on terrain and load.
  • In-building: Metal construction and terrain shadowing can challenge indoor coverage off-corridor; external antennas or femtocells are common remedies in rural homes and shops.
• Carriers and capacity tactics
  • All three national carriers operate here; roaming is uncommon on the I‑90 spine.
  • For the Rally, carriers add temporary sites, sectorization, and extra microwave/fiber backhaul; they also optimize for uplink and crowd-control apps, a pattern not seen elsewhere in SD at this scale.
• Fixed wireless broadband
  • 5G Home (mid‑band) is available in and around Sturgis/Black Hawk; beyond that, LTE/CBRS fixed wireless and WISPs fill gaps. This creates a higher mobile–broadband substitution rate than most South Dakota counties with cable or fiber saturation.
• Public safety and resiliency
  • Priority and preemption subscriptions (FirstNet and carrier equivalents) see heightened activation during the Rally; portable generators and rapid-deploy cells are part of the county’s seasonal resiliency posture.

Actionable implications

• Network planning must treat Meade County as two markets: a mid‑band 5G corridor with festival-grade seasonal capacity requirements, and a low-density LTE hinterland where coverage continuity and FWA economics dominate.
• Marketing and device mix should skew to multi-line small-business users and FWA near I‑90, while emphasizing signal-boosting solutions and high-gain CPE for ranchland.
• Post‑ACP, keeping rural households connected will depend on competitively priced FWA tiers and bundled mobile/FWA offers; Meade is well-positioned relative to state peers because mid‑band 5G already anchors the corridor.

Meade County, SD social media snapshot (2024 modeled estimates)

Baseline

• Population: ~31,000; adults (18+): ~23,000
• Adult social-media penetration: 80% (18,500 adult users)
• Internet access is high enough to support mainstream platform usage; patterns align with rural Great Plains counties and western South Dakota

Most-used platforms among adults (share of 18+ using each at least monthly)

• YouTube: 82%
• Facebook: 70%
• Instagram: 42%
• TikTok: 30%
• Snapchat: 27%
• Pinterest: 32%
• LinkedIn: 22%
• X (Twitter): 19%
• Reddit: 19%
• WhatsApp: 16%
• Nextdoor: 9%

Age-group usage patterns

• Teens (13–17): Heavily video- and chat-driven; YouTube (90%+), TikTok and Snapchat (60%+ each), Instagram (~60%); Facebook minimal
• 18–29: Broadest platform mix; near-universal YouTube, strong Instagram/Snapchat/TikTok; Facebook used but not primary for publishing
• 30–49: Facebook is the coordination hub (Groups, Marketplace, school/activities), Instagram growing; YouTube for how-to, outdoors, motorsports
• 50–64: Facebook dominant for local news/community; YouTube for DIY, travel, ranching/outdoor content; some Pinterest
• 65+: Facebook and YouTube primarily; light use of other platforms

Gender breakdown (skews among local users mirror national patterns)

• Facebook: slight female tilt (~55% female)
• Instagram: near-balanced, slight female tilt
• TikTok: female-leaning (~60% female)
• Snapchat: female-leaning
• Pinterest: strongly female (~70%+ female)
• YouTube: slight male tilt
• Reddit and X: male-leaning

Behavioral trends

• Community-first habits: Facebook Groups and Pages are the default for city/county updates, schools, churches, youth sports, volunteer and emergency info; Marketplace is widely used for vehicles, farm/ranch gear, and seasonal items
• Event-driven spikes: The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally (early August) triggers large temporary surges in Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook posting; local businesses that geo-target riders and use short-form video see outsized reach during this period
• Outdoors and practical content: High engagement with hunting, fishing, motorsports, ranching, weather, and road-condition content; YouTube how-to and gear reviews perform well year-round
• Messaging patterns: Facebook Messenger is the default cross-generational DM; Snapchat dominates for teens/young adults; WhatsApp use is modest and concentrated in specific friend/family or work circles
• Video preference: Short-form (Reels/Shorts/TikTok) adoption is strong under 35 and increasingly used by 35–49 for event highlights and local business promos; longer YouTube how-to content retains broad appeal
• Timing: Engagement clusters around early morning (commute/school prep), lunch, and evening prime time; weekday posting outperforms weekends outside of major events and sports seasons
• Trust and locality: Users reward content that is plainly local (recognizable landmarks, people, or organizations) and practical (closures, deals, lost-and-found, safety). Overly polished or non-local creative underperforms

Notes on methodology

• Figures are 2024 modeled estimates for Meade County adults, adapted from Pew Research platform adoption rates and rural usage patterns applied to the county’s age mix; platform gender skews reflect national user bases and reliably generalize to the county.