South Dakota manufacturing fact sheet
THE FACTORY CENSUS, Q3 2026 · FACTORYREGISTRY RESEARCH · SNAPSHOT AUG 2026
As of AUG 2026, FactoryRegistry lists 635 manufacturing facilities in South Dakota, of which 420 (66.1%) carry a recent operating signal. That is 68.67 facilities per 100,000 residents.
Full census, Q3 2026 · South Dakota in the registry
Top counties
| COUNTY | FACILITIES |
|---|---|
| Minnehaha | 138 |
| Pennington | 58 |
| Codington | 43 |
| Brookings | 33 |
| Lincoln | 27 |
| Davison | 26 |
| Brown | 24 |
| Yankton | 24 |
| Union | 23 |
| Beadle | 20 |
Leading industries
| SUBSECTOR | FACILITIES |
|---|---|
| 311 Food Manufacturing | 105 |
| 332 Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing | 99 |
| 333 Machinery Manufacturing | 98 |
| 325 Chemical Manufacturing | 68 |
| 336 Transportation Equipment Manufacturing | 56 |
Largest listed employers
| FACILITY | CITY | EMPLOYEES |
|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | Aberdeen | 500+ |
| Link Snacks INC. | Alpena | 500+ |
| New Angus, LLC dba DemKota Ranch Beef | Aberdeen | 500+ |
| Sd01-dakt-south Dakota Brookings | Brookings | 500+ |
| Smithfield Foods | Sioux Falls | 500+ |
| Terex - Watertown | Watertown | 500+ |
| Adams Thermal Systems INC | Canton | 100-499 |
| AGI Hansen Hi Roller | Sioux Falls | 100-499 |
| Agropur Lake Norden | Lake Norden | 100-499 |
| AmesburyTruth-Sioux Falls | Sioux Falls | 100-499 |
Ranked by reported employment band. Facilities whose sources report no band are not listed here.
Coverage
The registry lists 635 facilities in South Dakota against a BLS QCEW benchmark of 1,041 manufacturing establishments (2024) — coverage of 61.0%. The benchmark is a floor: QCEW counts establishments covered by unemployment insurance and so excludes most sole proprietors and some contract operations. The real number of manufacturing sites is therefore higher than the benchmark, and this percentage overstates coverage rather than understating it. Where it exceeds 100%, the registry lists more sites than QCEW counts establishments — which is expected in states with many small or single-person operations, and is also where duplicate listings would show up first.
FactoryRegistry Research, The Factory Census, Q3 2026 — factoryregistry.com/census/2026-q3/sd · press@factoryregistry.com