Market data
Personal injury in South Dakota: market data
What public records say about the market for personal injury in South Dakota: how much demand the courts and agencies count, how many law offices serve it, how many people need help in Spanish, and the ad rules that apply. Every number links to the record it comes from.
Demand: what courts and agencies count
Counts of filings, crashes, complaints and enforcement in the records each agency keeps. A count shows where problems were recorded, not how many people will hire a lawyer.
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fatal crashes with an alcohol-impaired driver | 38 crashes | 2024 | South Dakota state | fatal-crashes v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23733739 record fatal-crashes:46 · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Fatal crashes killing a bicyclist | 4 crashes | 2024 | South Dakota state | fatal-crashes v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23733739 record fatal-crashes:46 · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Fatal crashes | 134 crashes | 2024 | South Dakota state | fatal-crashes v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23733739 record fatal-crashes:46 · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| People killed in crashes | 146 deaths | 2024 | South Dakota state | fatal-crashes v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23733739 record fatal-crashes:46 · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Fatal crashes involving a large truck | 30 crashes | 2024 | South Dakota state | fatal-crashes v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23733739 record fatal-crashes:46 · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Fatal motorcycle crashes | 33 crashes | 2024 | South Dakota state | fatal-crashes v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23733739 record fatal-crashes:46 · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Fatal crashes killing a pedestrian | 8 crashes | 2024 | South Dakota state | fatal-crashes v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23733739 record fatal-crashes:46 · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: personal injury | 37 cases filed, fiscal year | FY2025 | South Dakota state | federal-filings-county v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750628 record federal-filings-county:SD · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Workers who commute by car, truck or van | 390,596 ±3,329 workers age 16+ | 2020-2024 | South Dakota state | legal-need v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886 record legal-need-sd · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Truck and bus crashes reported to FMCSA | 444 crashes | 2025 | South Dakota state | truck-crashes v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23743677 record truck-crashes:SD · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Deaths in truck and bus crashes | 21 deaths | 2025 | South Dakota state | truck-crashes v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23743677 record truck-crashes:SD · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Truck and bus crashes with an injury | 35 crashes | 2025 | South Dakota state | truck-crashes v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23743677 record truck-crashes:SD · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| OSHA fatality or catastrophe inspections | 6 inspections | FY2025 | South Dakota state | wage-enforcement v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23744226 record wage-enforcement:SD · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| OSHA inspections | 309 inspections | FY2025 | South Dakota state | wage-enforcement v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23744226 record wage-enforcement:SD · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Federal civil filings: private Federal Employers Liability Act (railroad workers) | 1 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | District of South Dakota federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-sd-priv-fela · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil filings: private marine personal injury | 0 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | District of South Dakota federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-sd-priv-marine-pi · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil filings: private motor vehicle personal injury | 18 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | District of South Dakota federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-sd-priv-motor-vehicle-pi · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil filings: private other personal injury (includes product liability, drug and device cases) | 34 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | District of South Dakota federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-sd-priv-other-pi · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil cases filed: personal injury | 127 cases filed, three fiscal years | FY2023-2025 | District of South Dakota federal district | idb-civil v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969 record idb-sd-personal-injury · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
Rising or falling
The change between the last two periods each source publishes. No threshold and no smoothing.
| Measure | Before | Latest | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fatal crashes with an alcohol-impaired driver South Dakota · record fatal-crashes:46 | 36 2023 | 38 2024 | rising (+5.6%) |
| Fatal crashes killing a bicyclist South Dakota · record fatal-crashes:46 | 0 2023 | 4 2024 | rising |
| Fatal crashes South Dakota · record fatal-crashes:46 | 128 2023 | 134 2024 | rising (+4.7%) |
| People killed in crashes South Dakota · record fatal-crashes:46 | 140 2023 | 146 2024 | rising (+4.3%) |
| Fatal crashes involving a large truck South Dakota · record fatal-crashes:46 | 23 2023 | 30 2024 | rising (+30.4%) |
| Fatal motorcycle crashes South Dakota · record fatal-crashes:46 | 28 2023 | 33 2024 | rising (+17.9%) |
| Fatal crashes killing a pedestrian South Dakota · record fatal-crashes:46 | 15 2023 | 8 2024 | falling (-46.7%) |
| Federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: personal injury South Dakota · record federal-filings-county:SD | 44 FY2024 | 37 FY2025 | falling (-15.9%) |
| Truck and bus crashes reported to FMCSA South Dakota · record truck-crashes:SD | 506 2024 | 444 2025 | falling (-12.3%) |
| Deaths in truck and bus crashes South Dakota · record truck-crashes:SD | 25 2024 | 21 2025 | falling (-16%) |
| Truck and bus crashes with an injury South Dakota · record truck-crashes:SD | 41 2024 | 35 2025 | falling (-14.6%) |
| OSHA fatality or catastrophe inspections South Dakota · record wage-enforcement:SD | 8 FY2024 | 6 FY2025 | falling (-25%) |
Lawyer supply
How many law offices and lawyers the federal statistics count here.
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New lawyers admitted | 128 lawyers a year | 2025 | South Dakota state | bar-pipeline v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721443 record sd-bar-pipeline · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Counties under 1 law office per 10,000 residents | 10 counties | 2026-Q1 | South Dakota state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-46 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Counties with no law office | 10 counties | 2026-Q1 | South Dakota state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-46 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Residents living in those low-office counties | 2.8 percent of residents | 2026-Q1 | South Dakota state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-46 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Employer law firms | 357 firms | 2022 | South Dakota state | law-firm-economy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997 record lfe-sd-all · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Receipts of employer law firms | 294,846,000 US dollars | 2022 | South Dakota state | law-firm-economy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997 record lfe-sd-all · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Law offices per 10,000 residents | 4.56 per 10,000 residents | 2026-Q1 | South Dakota state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-46 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Self-employed lawyers (nonemployer firms) | 367 firms | latest Nonemployer Statistics year | South Dakota state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-46 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Private law offices | 426 establishments | 2026-Q1 | South Dakota state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-46 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Lawyers employed (wage-earning, BLS OEWS) | 1,360 jobs | May 2025 | South Dakota state | lawyer-wages v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840 record lawyer-wages:SD:231011:2025 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Median annual wage of employed lawyers | 102,040 US dollars a year | May 2025 | South Dakota state | lawyer-wages v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840 record lawyer-wages:SD:231011:2025 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Counties with the most demand per law office
Of the 25 counties in South Dakota with the most fatal crashes, the ten with the most per private law office. Both counts are shown with their records.
| County | Demand | Law offices | Per office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Mix County, SD | 8 record fatal-crashes:46023 | 1 record law-offices-46023 | 8 |
| Lyman County, SD | 4 record fatal-crashes:46085 | 1 record law-offices-46085 | 4 |
| Buffalo County, SD | 3 record fatal-crashes:46017 | 1 record law-offices-46017 | 3 |
| McCook County, SD | 5 record fatal-crashes:46087 | 2 record law-offices-46087 | 2.5 |
| Fall River County, SD | 4 record fatal-crashes:46047 | 2 record law-offices-46047 | 2 |
| Moody County, SD | 2 record fatal-crashes:46101 | 1 record law-offices-46101 | 2 |
| Stanley County, SD | 2 record fatal-crashes:46117 | 1 record law-offices-46117 | 2 |
| Deuel County, SD | 3 record fatal-crashes:46039 | 2 record law-offices-46039 | 1.5 |
| Oglala Lakota County, SD | 3 record fatal-crashes:46102 | 2 record law-offices-46102 | 1.5 |
| Custer County, SD | 2 record fatal-crashes:46033 | 2 record law-offices-46033 | 1 |
Fatal crashes (fatal-crashes v1.0.0, 2024) ÷ Private law offices (law-offices v1.0.0, 2026-Q1). ratio = fatal-crashes.fatal_crashes / law-offices.qcew_estabs, rounded to 2 decimals; ranked highest first, among the 25 units with the most demand. Units with zero supply are listed apart (ratio undefined); units without a published value are listed as missing.
Spanish-language demand
People who speak Spanish and speak English less than very well, and the lawyers who speak Spanish, from the Census Bureau survey (with margins of error).
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyers who speak Spanish at home (ACS) | not published lawyers | 2020-2024 | South Dakota state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:SD:lawyers-spanish · status U · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English per Spanish-speaking lawyer | not published people per lawyer | 2020-2024 | South Dakota state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:SD:lep-per-spanish-lawyer · status U · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English (ACS) | 9,997 ±1,002 people age 5+ | 2020-2024 | South Dakota state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:SD:spanish-lep · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English | 9,997 ±1,022 people age 5+ | 2020-2024 | South Dakota state | legal-need v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886 record legal-need-sd · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Ad rules that apply
The rules a law firm's ads in South Dakota have to meet, summarized from the official texts. The full rules, with quotes, are on the state page.
| Topic | Status | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Ad filing or review | P primary source | Ads (as opposed to solicitations) are not filed; the lawyer keeps a copy or recording for two years after last use, with when and where it ran (7.2(c)). official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Required content | P primary source | Every ad must include the name and office address of at least one responsible lawyer or firm (7.2(d)); a communication is misleading if it lacks the lawyer's name and address by city or town (7.1(c)(11)). official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Waiting periods for contact | P primary source | The rules set no waiting period after an accident or injury. The only timing rule is the 30-day deposit of written or recorded solicitations with the State Bar (7.3(c)). official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Claims and results | P primary source | Ads must be predominantly informational (7.1(b)). They may not predict or guarantee results, use self-laudatory statements the public cannot verify, or claim past success without a disclaimer that each case is decided on its merits (7.1(c)(2)-(4)). official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Paying for referrals | P primary source | A lawyer may not give anything of value for recommending the lawyer's services, except for reasonable ad costs, the usual charges of a not-for-profit legal service organization, the usual charges of an approved not-for-profit 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(6) lawyer… official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Call recording | P primary source | Recording a communication is a felony only without the consent of a sender or receiver; a sender or receiver (or someone with one party's consent) may record it. official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Texting | P primary source | The South Dakota telemarketing chapter (SDCL 37-30A) covers unsolicited consumer telephone communications; a consumer adversely affected by a willful violation may sue for twice actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, plus costs and attorney fees. official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Ad filing or review | P primary source | South Dakota: general ads are not filed, but targeted solicitations must be filed, before the ad first runs. official source · filing v1.2.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721409 · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Paying for referrals | P primary source | Lawyers in different firms may split a fee if the split matches the work each does, or if each lawyer takes joint responsibility for the case, and the total fee is reasonable. official source · referral v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23747113 · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Limitation period | P primary source | South Dakota, personal injury: 3 years, under S.D. Codified Laws § 15-2-14(3), as read in the official code on 2026-10-28. official source · limitations v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23743673 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Limitation period | P primary source | South Dakota, wrongful death: 3 years, under S.D. Codified Laws § 21-5-3, as read in the official code on 2026-10-28. official source · limitations v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23743673 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Limitation period | P primary source | South Dakota, property damage: 6 years, under S.D. Codified Laws § 15-2-13(3), (4), as read in the official code on 2026-10-28. official source · limitations v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23743673 · checked 2026-10-28 |
Prices and pay (national)
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jobs in legal services (seasonally adjusted) | 1,249 thousand jobs | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:CES6054110001:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| CPI-U: legal services | 230 index | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:CUUR0000SEGC01:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| PPI: offices of lawyers | 338 index | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:PCU541110541110:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| PPI: civil negligence legal services | 257 index | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:PCU5411105411103:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Probative benchmarks, 2025–2026
Our own marketing benchmarks for this practice: aggregated, rounded, and small groups suppressed.
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Probative benchmarks, 2025–2026: Injury cases: average cost per search-ad click | $50–75 USD (band) | 2025–2026 | United States United States | benchmarks v4.0.1 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23735849 record search-click-costs-1 · status P · checked 2026-10-26 |
What is missing
Datasets linked to this practice that have no figure here, and values the source withholds. We never fill these in.
- state-courts (demand): the dataset has no records for South Dakota (it covers other places)
- ca-courts (demand): the dataset has no records for South Dakota (it covers other places)
- findings (demand): the dataset has no records for South Dakota (it covers other places)
- findings (supply): the dataset has no records for South Dakota (it covers other places)
- firm-web-census (supply): the dataset has no records for South Dakota (it covers other places)
- language (spanish): Lawyers who speak Spanish at home (ACS) (South Dakota): value withheld by the source (status U)
- language (spanish): Spanish speakers with limited English per Spanish-speaking lawyer (South Dakota): value withheld by the source (status U)
Download and cite
The rows behind this page, with every dataset, version, DOI, record id and check date.
Cite as: Probative Growth, The new-lawyer pipeline by jurisdiction: bar exam pass rates and new admissions, 2025 v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721443); Probative benchmarks, 2025–2026 v4.0.1 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23735849); Federal civil filings by nature of suit and district, 12-month periods since 2018 v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009); Legal deserts: law offices and lawyers per resident in every U.S. county v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430); Fatal crashes by county and type: trucks, motorcycles, pedestrians and bicyclists, NHTSA FARS 2019 to 2024 v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23733739); Federal civil cases filed, by county of the plaintiff's residence, case type and year (Federal Judicial Center) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750628); How long federal civil cases take: outcomes, class actions and pro se share by district, nature of suit and year v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969); Spanish-speaking demand vs Spanish-speaking lawyer supply, by state and metro v1.1.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758); Law firm size, solos and receipts, by state: Census SUSB 2022, Nonemployer Statistics 2024 and Economic Census 2022 v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997); Law offices, jobs and pay by county, with solo-practice counts: BLS QCEW, Census CBP and Nonemployer Statistics v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415); Lawyer, paralegal and legal-staff pay by state and metro (BLS OEWS) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840); Legal need by county: who may need a lawyer, from the American Community Survey v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886); Legal-services prices and jobs, monthly (BLS CPI, PPI and CES) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854); Truck and bus crashes by county, state and year (FMCSA crash file) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23743677); Wage-and-hour and OSHA enforcement by county, state, act and industry (U.S. Department of Labor) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23744226); CC BY 4.0. https://probativegrowth.com/markets/south-dakota/personal-injury/
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How this page is built
Each figure is copied from one record of the dataset named with it, joined to this state and practice through the open practice and place crosswalk. Nothing is estimated. Methods, inputs and limits.