Statistics

Current Population

40,000

90%

Unemployment Rate

Life Expectancy

Women on Pine Ridge: 52

Women in United States: 81

Men on Pine Ridge: 47

Men in United States: 76

Homes with no electricity or running water

33%

Median Income

$2,600-3,500

Estimated houses infested with black mold

60%

Pine Ridge: By the Numbers

17

The average home has 17 people living in it.

  • Tuberculosis: 800% higher*

  • Cervical Cancer: 500% higher*

  • Diabetes: 500% higher*

  • Infant Mortality: 300% higher*

  • Teen Suicide: 150% higher*

*than US national average

There is one grocery store on the reservation, but zero banks, motels, discount stores or movie theaters.

1

Many families without running water gather untreated water from local rivers for personal needs.

Sources: American Indian Humanitarian Foundation

South Dakota Department of Tribal Relations

11,000 square miles; one grocery store

Eight out of 10 families are impacted by alcoholism.

Only three out of 10 teenagers graduate high school.

Half of adults over the age of 40 have diabetes.

Dig Deeper

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Struggles With Suicide Among Its Young (New York Times, 2015)

A Photographer's Moving Tribute to the Pine Ridge Reservation (Slate, 2014)

Kings coach Dave Joerger working with kids on Native American reservation (USA Today, 2016)

IHS hospital in South Dakota threatened with funds cutoff (Modern Healthcare, 2016)