Shannon County High in Never Marrieds, Fall River in Divorcees

While South Dakota is part of the Midwest “marriage belt” where couples get married at higher rate than the rest of the nation, it does have some counties that go against that trend.

The data website FlowingData recently analyzed county-level Census Bureau data to note marriage, divorce, separation and widowed rates.

FlowingData found that half the population over the age of 15 is married in the United States, with the Midwest, Utah and parts of Idaho and Montana exceeding that rate.

However, Shannon County, South Dakota has the second highest “never married” rate in the nation and Fall River County has the second highest divorced rate.

Statewide, Shannon, Todd, Bennett, Clay, Dewey, Ziebach, Buffalo and Brookings counties were the only South Dakota counties that had more people in them who were unmarried than were married, according to the research.