Therapists & Counselors in South Dakota
Psychologists, clinical social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists and psychiatrists registered with a practice address in this area.
How density varies inside South Dakota
Each bar is the number of places at that level of provider density. A long right tail means a few places carry far more providers per resident than the rest of the state.
South Dakota has 2,906 licensed providers with a registered practice address, across 12 licence types.
South Dakota ranks 51st of 56 states and territories by the number of registered providers in this field.
By licence type the breakdown is mental health counselor (756), clinical social worker (567), counselor (279), professional counselor (245), with 8 further types making up the remainder.
No single licence type dominates here — mental health counselor and clinical social worker are within reach of each other. For most common reasons to seek therapy, the distinction between those licences matters less than availability and cost.
The three largest concentrations are Sioux Falls (1,538), Rapid City (808), Aberdeen (268).
One caveat on reading these numbers: the registry records where a provider registered an address, not where they see clients day to day, and addresses are not always kept current. It also says nothing about whether someone is taking new clients.
How South Dakota got here
new registrations per yearEach registration carries the year it was issued, so the registry doubles as a record of when this workforce grew in South Dakota. A rising line means the constraint is easing; a flat one means today's shortage is likely to be next year's too.
Who they are
self-reported to CMS78.5% of registered licensed providers in South Dakota are women. Nationally the figure varies a great deal by licence type — occupational therapy at one end, psychiatry at the other. See the national breakdown.
You can filter any city list on this site by gender. We show it because it is one of the most common things people search for and, for some kinds of work, a real need — but it is only ever a filter here, never a ranking.
Where they are registered
circle size = providers in that ZIP codeBy licence type
Places in South Dakota
96 of 96 have their own page so far| Place | Providers | Population | Per 10k |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sioux Falls | 997 | 213,748 | 46.6 |
| Rapid City | 543 | 80,589 | 67.4 |
| Yankton | 198 | 15,816 | |
| Aberdeen | 186 | 27,961 | 66.5 |
| Watertown | 126 | 23,736 | 53.1 |
| Sturgis | 113 | 6,922 | |
| Spearfish | 88 | 14,154 | 62.2 |
| Brookings | 77 | 25,355 | 30.4 |
| Huron | 56 | 14,607 | 38.3 |
| Pierre | 55 | 13,848 | 39.7 |
| Hot Springs | 55 | 3,670 | 149.9 |
| Mitchell | 43 | 15,756 | 27.3 |
| Winner | 22 | 2,969 | 74.1 |
| Vermillion | 22 | 11,720 | 18.8 |
| Madison | 21 | 6,065 | 34.6 |
| Ashland Heights | 21 | ||
| Brandon | 19 | 11,306 | 16.8 |
| Sisseton | 13 | 2,413 | 53.9 |
| Chamberlain | 11 | 2,453 | 44.8 |
| Belle Fourche | 11 | 5,791 | 19.0 |
| Tea | 9 | 8,019 | 11.2 |
| Mobridge | 9 | 3,192 | 28.2 |
| Harrisburg | 9 | 10,405 | 8.6 |
| Flandreau | 9 | 2,396 | 37.6 |
| Dakota Dunes | 9 | ||
| Canton | 9 | 3,001 | |
| Pine Ridge | 8 | ||
| Wagner | 7 | 1,422 | 49.2 |
| Platte | 7 | 1,230 | 56.9 |
| Mission | 7 | 1,101 | 63.6 |
| Lemmon | 7 | 1,158 | 60.4 |
| Custer | 7 | 1,803 | 38.8 |
| Fort Thompson | 6 | ||
| Beresford | 6 | 2,105 | 28.5 |
| Summerset | 5 | 3,030 | 16.5 |
| Rosebud | 5 | ||
| Redfield | 5 | 2,114 | 23.7 |
| Oahe Acres | 5 | ||
| Lennox | 5 | 2,657 | 18.8 |
| Milbank | 4 | 3,512 | 11.4 |
| Kyle | 4 | ||
| Eagle Butte | 4 | 1,269 | 31.5 |
| Dell Rapids | 4 | 3,852 | 10.4 |
| Box Elder | 4 | 13,936 | 2.9 |
| Valley Springs | 3 | 889 | 33.7 |
| Piedmont | 3 | 1,245 | 24.1 |
| McLaughlin | 3 | 551 | 54.4 |
| Lower Brule | 3 | ||
| Wanblee | 2 | ||
| Plankinton | 2 | 777 | 25.7 |
| Parkston | 2 | 1,540 | 13.0 |
| North Sioux City | 2 | 3,036 | 6.6 |
| Lead | 2 | 3,064 | 6.5 |
| Hill City | 2 | 938 | 21.3 |
| Hartford | 2 | 3,635 | 5.5 |
| Groton | 2 | 1,337 | 15.0 |
| Elk Point | 2 | 2,080 | 9.6 |
| Deadwood | 2 | 1,360 | 14.7 |
| Corsica | 2 | 564 | 35.5 |
| Burke | 2 | 590 | 33.9 |
| Wessington Springs | 1 | 753 | 13.3 |
| Webster | 1 | 1,681 | 5.9 |
| Wall | 1 | 668 | 15.0 |
| Volga | 1 | 2,458 | 4.1 |
| Viborg | 1 | 853 | 11.7 |
| Vale | 1 | ||
| Tulare | 1 | 206 | 48.5 |
| Summit | 1 | 276 | 36.2 |
| Springfield | 1 | 1,926 | 5.2 |
| Sherman | 1 | 77 | |
| Salem | 1 | 1,357 | 7.4 |
| Porcupine | 1 | ||
| Pollock | 1 | 226 | 44.2 |
| Newell | 1 | 570 | 17.5 |
| Mount Vernon | 1 | 462 | 21.6 |
| Menno | 1 | 622 | |
| Mellette | 1 | 194 | |
| Lesterville | 1 | 110 | |
| Kennebec | 1 | 282 | 35.5 |
| Kadoka | 1 | 518 | 19.3 |
| Jefferson | 1 | 448 | 22.3 |
| Hudson | 1 | 342 | 29.2 |
| Gregory | 1 | 1,250 | 8.0 |
| Gettysburg | 1 | 1,049 | 9.5 |
| Garretson | 1 | 1,174 | 8.5 |
| Fort Pierre | 1 | 2,166 | 4.6 |
| De Smet | 1 | 1,032 | 9.7 |
| Colton | 1 | 687 | 14.6 |
| Colman | 1 | 696 | 14.4 |
| Clear Lake | 1 | 1,220 | 8.2 |
| Chancellor | 1 | 322 | |
| Buffalo Gap | 1 | 155 | 64.5 |
| Blunt | 1 | 330 | 30.3 |
| Baltic | 1 | 1,344 | 7.4 |
| Aurora | 1 | 1,286 | 7.8 |
| Artesian | 1 | 133 | 75.2 |
8 places have no per-resident figure. Those are office districts inside a larger urban area, rural towns whose practices serve a whole region, or places where most registrations share one employer's address — dividing by the resident population there produces a number that looks precise and describes nothing. The provider counts are unaffected; the test is described in the methodology.