South Dakota nears population of one million with 1% growth, 'Freedom Works Here' campaign

South Dakota’s population grew by 1% to 919,318, according to the latest figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

This reflects a net population change of 9,449 from July 2022 to July 2023. South Dakota had 11,369 births for that period compared to 8,556 deaths, for a natural change of 2,813.

When the population of people moving out of the state was measured against those making South Dakota their home, the state saw a domestic migration increase by 4,812 residents.

Additionally, 1,788 people from other countries chose to live in the Mount Rushmore state for a net migration of 6,600 new people adopting the state as their place of residence, about 5,000 less than last year.

The Western North Central Region has experienced incremental but steady growth over the last three years moving from 21,662,785 in 2021, to 21,684,718 in 2022 to reach 21,763,244 in 2023. This year the region realized the largest jump in total population change than in previous periods.

But it was the South that demonstrated the largest growth, with an additional 1.4 million calling that region home - the only region to realize growth during the pandemic - drew 702,000 residents from other states and close to 500,000 from other countries. South Carolina with a 1.7% population increase led in the rankings over Florida’s 1.6% population growth.

Nationwide, the country gained more than 1.6 million in 2023 with a 0.5% growth to reach 334,914,895 as population trends settle into more normal patterns and return to pre-pandemic rhythms.

“U.S. migration returning to pre-pandemic levels and a drop in deaths are driving the nation’s growth,” said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Population Division at the Census Bureau. “Although births declined, this was tempered by the near 9% decrease in deaths. Ultimately, fewer deaths paired with rebounding immigration resulted in the nation experiencing its largest population gain since 2018.”

South Dakota is already gearing up for another increase in population as a result of Governor Kristi Noem’s “Freedom Works Here” nationwide workforce recruitment campaign launched on June 21, 2023.

Since then the state has had more than 8,000 people apply to move to South Dakota with more than 2,000 applicants in the final stages of relocation.

“The most applications have come from California (1,386), Florida (594), Texas (550), Minnesota (423), and New York (360),” a release from Gov. Noem’s office said on Friday. “These numbers represent those working directly through the “Freedom Works Here” program. Even more people are finding jobs and moving to South Dakota of their own accord after seeing the ads.”