County health data
Pennington County, SD
CDC PLACES estimates diabetes at 12.1% of adults in Pennington County (South Dakota: 11.8%). This county has 11 HRSA shortage designations, 3 hospitals, and 2 health center sites.
License. US government work, Public Domain Mark 1.0.
For help with food, housing, utilities, or rides in Pennington County, call 211 or visit 211.org.
Health measures compared with the state
33 measures for adults in Pennington County (about 90,529 adults). 24 have a South Dakota figure from the same survey.
Largest differences from the South Dakota figure: coronary heart disease 7.0% vs 3.9% (+3.1 points), no leisure-time physical activity 23.3% vs 25.7% (-2.4 points), and frequent physical distress 12.5% vs 10.2% (+2.3 points).
Health Outcomes
| Measure | Pennington County | South Dakota | US | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arthritis | 26.8% | 26.2% | 26.3% | 2023 |
| High blood pressure | 34.6% | 35.2% | 34.0% | 2023 |
| Cancer, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer | 9.4% | n/a | n/a | 2023 |
| Current asthma | 10.2% | 9.7% | 10.2% | 2023 |
| Coronary heart disease | 7.0% | 3.9% | 4.0% | 2023 |
| COPD | 6.8% | 6.4% | 6.3% | 2023 |
| Depression | 21.0% | 23.1% | 21.8% | 2023 |
| Diagnosed diabetes | 12.1% | 11.8% | 11.8% | 2023 |
| High cholesterol, adults ever screened | 34.3% | 35.5% | 37.2% | 2023 |
| Obesity | 33.7% | 36.0% | 34.4% | 2023 |
| Stroke | 3.5% | 3.4% | 3.3% | 2023 |
| All teeth lost, ages 65 and older | 15.5% | n/a | n/a | 2022 |
Prevention
| Measure | Pennington County | South Dakota | US | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, ages 18 to 64 | 8.5% | 10.2% | 9.3% | 2023 |
| Taking blood pressure medicine, adults with high blood pressure | 77.3% | n/a | n/a | 2023 |
| Routine checkup in the past year | 76.3% | 78.2% | 78.4% | 2023 |
| Cholesterol screening | 85.7% | n/a | n/a | 2023 |
| Colorectal cancer screening, ages 45 to 75 | 67.1% | n/a | n/a | 2022 |
| Dental visit in the past year | 67.2% | n/a | n/a | 2022 |
| Mammogram, women ages 50 to 74 | 76.6% | n/a | n/a | 2022 |
Health Risk Behaviors
| Measure | Pennington County | South Dakota | US | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drinking | 20.2% | 19.8% | 15.1% | 2023 |
| Current smoking | 15.0% | 15.2% | 12.1% | 2023 |
| No leisure-time physical activity | 23.3% | 25.7% | 24.5% | 2023 |
| Short sleep | 31.7% | n/a | n/a | 2022 |
Health Status
| Measure | Pennington County | South Dakota | US | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health | 17.1% | 18.0% | 18.5% | 2023 |
| Frequent mental distress | 14.8% | 14.3% | 15.4% | 2023 |
| Frequent physical distress | 12.5% | 10.2% | 12.6% | 2023 |
Disability
| Measure | Pennington County | South Dakota | US | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive disability | 13.0% | 14.3% | 13.7% | 2023 |
| Any disability | 31.2% | n/a | n/a | 2023 |
| Hearing disability | 8.4% | 8.2% | 7.4% | 2023 |
| Independent living disability | 7.4% | 8.6% | 7.8% | 2023 |
| Mobility disability | 13.3% | 13.1% | 13.4% | 2023 |
| Self-care disability | 3.4% | 3.9% | 3.7% | 2023 |
| Vision disability | 4.5% | 3.6% | 5.0% | 2023 |
Source: CDC PLACES county data, as of December 4, 2025. Publisher page
Source: CDC BRFSS prevalence data, as of September 15, 2026. Publisher page
Health professional shortage areas
HRSA lists 11 designated shortage rows in Pennington County: primary care 4 (highest score 18), mental health 4 (highest score 23), and dental 3 (highest score 21). 2 cover a geographic area or population group; the other 9 are facility designations.
| Discipline | Area or population | Facility | Highest score |
|---|---|---|---|
| primary care | 1 | 3 | 18 |
| mental health | 1 | 3 | 23 |
| dental | 0 | 3 | 21 |
Area and population designations
| Designation | Discipline | Type | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behavior Management Systems MHCA | mental health | High Needs Geographic HPSA | 18 |
| LI - Rapid City | primary care | HPSA Population | 15 |
Facility designations (9)
| Designation | Discipline | Type | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER OF THE BLACK HILLS, INC. | mental health | Federally Qualified Health Center | 23 |
| Native Women's Health Care | mental health | Indian Health Service, Tribal Health, and Urban Indian Health Organizations | 21 |
| COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER OF THE BLACK HILLS, INC. | dental | Federally Qualified Health Center | 21 |
| OYATE HEALTH CENTER | mental health | Indian Health Service, Tribal Health, and Urban Indian Health Organizations | 20 |
| COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER OF THE BLACK HILLS, INC. | primary care | Federally Qualified Health Center | 18 |
| Native Women's Health Care | primary care | Indian Health Service, Tribal Health, and Urban Indian Health Organizations | 13 |
| OYATE HEALTH CENTER | primary care | Indian Health Service, Tribal Health, and Urban Indian Health Organizations | 13 |
| Native Women's Health Care | dental | Indian Health Service, Tribal Health, and Urban Indian Health Organizations | 10 |
| OYATE HEALTH CENTER | dental | Indian Health Service, Tribal Health, and Urban Indian Health Organizations | 8 |
Source: HRSA Health Professional Shortage Areas, as of October 14, 2026. Publisher page
Hospitals and readmission rates
CMS Care Compare lists 3 acute care or critical access hospitals in Pennington County. None has a readmission rate CMS rates worse than the national rate.
| Hospital | City | Stars | Heart failure | Pneumonia | COPD | Heart attack | Hip or knee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLACK HILLS SURGICAL HOSPITAL LLC | RAPID CITY | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 3.8% |
| MONUMENT HEALTH RAPID CITY HOSPITAL | RAPID CITY | 3 | 19.2% | 16.2% | 19.3% | 13.4% | 6.0% |
| SAME DAY SURGERY CENTER LLC | RAPID CITY | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Each rate is the share of patients readmitted within 30 days of discharge, July 2023 to June 2025. "n/a" means CMS did not publish a rate for that hospital.
Source: CMS Care Compare hospital general information, as of August 13, 2026. Publisher page
Source: CMS Care Compare unplanned hospital visits, as of September 30, 2026. Publisher page
Health centers
2 active health center sites in Pennington County, run by 1 organization.
| Site ↑ | Health center | Address | City |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cornerstone Rescue Mission - Men's Shelter | COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER OF THE BLACK HILLS, INC. | 30 Main St | Rapid City 57701 |
| Main Clinic | COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER OF THE BLACK HILLS, INC. | 350 Pine St | Rapid City 57701 |
Source: HRSA health center service delivery and look-alike sites, as of October 14, 2026. Publisher page
South Dakota rural health plan
South Dakota Rural Health Transformation Plan
Initiatives, as the state's abstract names them (page 62):
- Connecting Technology & Data
- Advancing the Rural Workforce
- Keeping Healthcare Local and Strong
- Transforming Systems for Sustainability
CMS says the abstract budgets are illustrative and are not award amounts, so none are shown.
Source: CMS Rural Health Transformation Program state project abstracts, as of December 2025. Publisher page
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Neighboring counties
Medicare plans in Pennington County, SD
About this data
County rates are CDC PLACES model-based estimates of adults, built from the CDC BRFSS survey and Census population data. State and US figures are BRFSS survey results for the same year. They are not averages of counties, and small differences may not be meaningful.
Shortage rows are HRSA designations with status Designated. Scores run from 0 to 25 (0 to 26 for dental); a higher score means greater need. Hospitals are acute care and critical access hospitals CMS lists in the county, with 30-day rates of unplanned readmission. Health centers are active HRSA-funded and look-alike sites.
Rural health plan initiatives are copied as the state wrote them. Nothing here is medical advice.
Source: CDC PLACES county data, as of December 4, 2025. Publisher page
Source: CDC BRFSS prevalence data, as of September 15, 2026. Publisher page
Source: HRSA Health Professional Shortage Areas, as of October 14, 2026. Publisher page