South Dakota / AIANNHCE 2030 / Federally-recognized area

Lower Brule

The full tribal profile includes the report map, demographic tables, broadband tables, FCC provider sections, and interactive charts.

97.0%25/3 availability

96.1%100/20 availability

0.0%1000/100 availability

10Fixed providers

Figure 1. Location of Lower Brule within South Dakota, with boundary detail (inset).

About the Tribal Area

Federally recognized tribe in South Dakota, centered on Lower Brule Reservation, spans about 338 square miles of land plus roughly 46.2 square miles of water. FCC BDC records show 10 fixed providers and 3 mobile providers across roughly 2 service locations, with current availability of 97.0% at 25/3 Mbps, 96.1% at 100/20, and 96.1% at 1000/100.

Tribal Area Description

In South Dakota, Lower Brule has tribal lands managed by a federally recognized tribe. The land base is relevant for broadband planning due to rural service coverage and middle-mile access constraints.

Website Summary: www.lowerbrulesiouxtribe.com

The Official Site of the Kul Wicasa Oyate page for Lower Brule functions as a community information page rather than a long-form tribal history. It emphasizes local contacts, community resources, and links to regional programs and services. The available content is oriented toward practical resources rather than a dedicated narrative profile for the tribe. The page includes sections on Weather Station, Community Announcements, Tribal Constitution and Bylaws, Law and Order Codes, and LBST Employment Opportunities.

Table 1. Demographics

Indicator	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Population	1,689	1,713	1,747	1,760	1,600	1,521
Households	428	439	367	376	280	281
Median age	22.6	24.4	23.1	24.4	23.4	24.3
Male / Female	50.9% / 49.1%	50.6% / 49.4%	51.3% / 48.7%	52.3% / 47.7%	53.5% / 46.5%	52.7% / 47.3%
Avg. household size	3.77	3.69	4.49	4.45	5.45	5.18
Pop. density (per sq mi)	5.0	5.1	5.2	5.2	4.7	4.5
HH density (per sq mi)	1.3	1.3	1.1	1.1	0.8	0.8

Table 2. Economic & Education

Indicator	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Median household income	$34,342	$29,083	$29,609	$34,688	$39,000	$38,068
Per capita income	$11,258	$11,697	$11,425	$14,215	$13,320	$14,604
Poverty rate	38.0%	44.6%	41.4%	46.9%	48.1%	47.7%
Unemployment rate	18.8%	17.5%	15.2%	10.8%	8.9%	8.1%
HS diploma or higher	55.5%	55.3%	55.4%	59.6%	56.8%	59.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	8.1%	10.8%	11.9%	9.6%	8.3%	10.7%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates. Queried by AIANNHCE code. Population and household density are calculated from Census population or households divided by land area in square miles.

Table 3. Download/Upload Speeds (Mbps)

Period	Download	Upload
2019Q1	23.3 Mbps	2.0 Mbps
2019Q2	17.8 Mbps	2.0 Mbps
2019Q3	16.7 Mbps	2.3 Mbps
2019Q4	47.3 Mbps	9.3 Mbps
2020Q1	41.8 Mbps	48.3 Mbps
2020Q2	18.1 Mbps	7.7 Mbps
2020Q3	23.5 Mbps	21.3 Mbps
2020Q4	34.6 Mbps	13.8 Mbps
2021Q1	20.3 Mbps	17.4 Mbps
2021Q2	81.8 Mbps	41.9 Mbps
2021Q3	118.6 Mbps	85.9 Mbps
2021Q4	169.1 Mbps	200.7 Mbps
2022Q1	83.9 Mbps	105.7 Mbps
2022Q2	79.7 Mbps	106.0 Mbps
2022Q3	91.1 Mbps	98.9 Mbps
2022Q4	69.3 Mbps	76.0 Mbps
2023Q1	136.8 Mbps	489.4 Mbps
2023Q2	218.1 Mbps	270.7 Mbps
2023Q3	120.3 Mbps	98.8 Mbps
2023Q4	108.0 Mbps	128.0 Mbps
2024Q1	303.2 Mbps	387.9 Mbps
2024Q2	181.1 Mbps	164.7 Mbps
2024Q3	126.5 Mbps	161.8 Mbps

Table 4. Coverage by Tier (%)

Year	25/3	100/20	1 Gbps
2015	63.5%	3.1%	0.0%
2016	77.4%	53.1%	0.0%
2017	77.4%	53.1%	39.0%
2018	77.4%	53.1%	40.3%
2019	95.6%	53.1%	53.1%
2020	100.0%	97.5%	53.1%
2021	100.0%	99.0%	11.3%
2022	93.7%	93.7%	10.6%
2023	95.1%	95.1%	95.1%
2024	97.0%	96.1%	0.0%

Table 5. Adoption (%)

Year	All households	Low-income households
2017	49.3%	23.4%
2018	46.9%	25.8%
2019	46.7%	28.8%
2020	44.9%	29.1%
2021	39.5%	27.8%
2022	38.0%	28.9%
2023	30.4%	30.9%
2024	32.7%	38.9%

Table 6. Current Status (2024, %)

Tier	Coverage
25/3 Mbps	97.0%
100/20 Mbps	96.1%
1 Gbps	0.0%

Table 7. Comparison with National Averages (%)

Metric	Tribal	National
25/3 Mbps	97.0%	92%
100/20 Mbps	96.1%	85%
Adoption	32.7%	78%

Sources: FCC Broadband Data Collection, Ookla Open Data Initiative, and U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates. National benchmarks are carried over from the report comparison section.

Figure 2. Speed Trends (2019–2024)

Figure 3. Availability (2015–2025)

Figure 4. Adoption (2017–2024)

Figure 5. Current Status (2024)

Figure 6. Comparison with National Averages

Figure 7. Fixed Coverage by Technology (25/3 Mbps)

Figure 8. Mobile Area Coverage

Notes: speed trends reflect quarterly mean throughput. Availability shows the share of population with access. Tooltips on the charts expose the underlying values for each series.

Table 8. Broadband Provider Summary

Metric	Value
Fixed broadband providers	10
Mobile broadband providers	3
Broadband serviceable locations	2

Table 9. Broadband Providers

Fixed	Mobile
AT&T Inc.	AT&T Inc.
T-Mobile USA, Inc.	T-Mobile USA, Inc.
Golden West Telecommunications Cooperative, Inc.	Verizon Communications Inc.
EchoStar Corporation	—
Kennebec Telephone Company, Inc.	—
Midstate Communications, Inc. (SD)	—
Verizon Communications Inc.	—
Viasat, Inc.	—
BHT Investment Holdings LLC	—
Space Exploration Technologies Corp.	—

Table 10. Fixed Coverage by Technology (% of locations)

Technology	25/3	100/20	250/25	1 Gbps
Any Technology	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	0.0%
Fiber	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Cable	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Fixed Wireless	50.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Copper (DSL)	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Satellite	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	0.0%

Table 11. Mobile Coverage (% of area)

Technology	Coverage
4G LTE	100.0%
5G-NR (Speed Tier 1)	99.3%
5G-NR (Speed Tier 2)	97.9%
Total area (sq mi)	15.063

Table 8. Coverage by Tier and Technology (% of locations)

Dec. 2022

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25	1000/100
All Fixed Wireless	48.5	17.5	17.5	0.0	0.0	0.0
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
All Wired	93.7	92.8	92.8	92.8	92.8	29.2
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	97.5	92.8	92.8	92.8	92.8	29.2
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	92.8	29.2
Any Terrestrial	97.7	92.9	92.9	92.8	92.8	29.2
Cable	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cable/Fiber	93.7	92.8	92.8	92.8	92.8	29.2
Copper	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fiber	93.7	92.8	92.8	92.8	92.8	29.2
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	32.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	17.5	17.5	17.5	0.0	0.0	0.0

June 2023

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25	1000/100
All Fixed Wireless	25.4	17.0	17.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
All Wired	95.1	93.8	93.8	93.8	93.8	93.8
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	96.0	93.8	93.8	93.8	93.8	93.8
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	93.8	93.8
Any Terrestrial	96.1	94.4	94.4	93.8	93.8	93.8
Cable	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cable/Fiber	95.1	93.8	93.8	93.8	93.8	93.8
Copper	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fiber	95.1	93.8	93.8	93.8	93.8	93.8
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	8.4	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	17.0	17.0	17.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Dec. 2023

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25	1000/100
All Fixed Wireless	30.8	28.8	28.8	0.4	0.0	0.0
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
All Wired	96.2	95.0	95.0	95.0	95.0	95.0
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	96.2	95.0	95.0	95.0	95.0	95.0
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	95.0	95.0
Any Terrestrial	96.5	95.4	95.4	95.0	95.0	95.0
Cable	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cable/Fiber	96.2	95.0	95.0	95.0	95.0	95.0
Copper	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fiber	96.2	95.0	95.0	95.0	95.0	95.0
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	2.6	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.0	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	28.4	28.4	28.4	0.0	0.0	0.0

June 2024

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25	1000/100
All Fixed Wireless	28.6	28.4	28.4	0.7	0.0	0.0
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
All Wired	95.7	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	95.7	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	95.5	95.5
Any Terrestrial	96.4	96.2	96.2	95.5	95.5	95.5
Cable	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cable/Fiber	95.7	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5
Copper	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fiber	95.7	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	47.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	1.4	1.3	1.3	0.7	0.0	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	27.4	27.4	27.4	0.0	0.0	0.0

Dec. 2024

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25	1000/100
All Fixed Wireless	31.3	30.0	30.0	2.6	0.0	0.0
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
All Wired	96.3	96.3	96.3	96.3	96.3	96.3
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	96.3	96.3	96.3	96.3	96.3	96.3
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	96.3	96.3
Any Terrestrial	96.8	96.8	96.8	96.3	96.3	96.3
Cable	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cable/Fiber	96.3	96.3	96.3	96.3	96.3	96.3
Copper	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fiber	96.3	96.3	96.3	96.3	96.3	96.3
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	4.6	3.4	3.4	2.6	0.0	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	26.9	26.9	26.9	0.0	0.0	0.0

June 2025

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25	1000/100
All Fixed Wireless	6.2	5.8	5.8	3.5	0.0	0.0
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0
All Wired	95.7	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	95.8	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	95.5
Any Terrestrial	96.7	96.3	96.3	95.5	95.5	95.5
Cable	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cable/Fiber	95.7	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5
Copper	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fiber	95.7	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5	95.5
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	5.3	5.0	5.0	3.5	0.0	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.0	0.0	0.0

FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC), June 2025 filing vintage. Coverage values show the share of residential broadband serviceable locations by technology and speed tier across D22, J23, D23, J24, D24, and J25 filings.

Source: FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC), June 2025 Filing (J25). Fixed coverage shows the share of residential broadband serviceable locations, and mobile coverage shows the share of tribal land area.