Lincoln County is better covered than South Dakota as a whole: 6.9% of under-65 residents uninsured against a state average of 9.9%, or roughly 4,436 people. It is the 3rd lowest of the 66 counties in South Dakota. Where employer coverage is this widespread, losing it tends to arrive as more of a shock — most people here have never bought their own plan.
Lincoln County against South Dakota, and against the counties we cover
| Lincoln County | South Dakota | Covered counties | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uninsured, under 65 | 6.9% | 9.9% | 13.0% |
| Marketplace enrollees per 1,000 | 50 | — | 127 |
| Insurers selling here | 2 | 2 (median) | 5 |
| Individual plans offered | 41 | — | 84 |
State uninsured rate from the Census SAHIE series; the final column is the median across the 104 counties covered on this site. Enrollment density is CMS plan selections per 1,000 under-65 residents.
What you can actually buy here
Two insurers sell individual plans in Lincoln County, and that is the whole market. When there are only two, they rarely overlap: the hospital systems each one contracts with tend to be the ones the other does not. So the practical question is not which company has the better reputation — it is which of the two networks contains the doctors you already see. Between them they offer 41 plans, about 20 for each insurer, a short list by national standards. Short lists are easier to compare properly, which is a real advantage as long as one of them fits your doctors. The count is unchanged from last year, so the networks you compared previously still stand.
3,238 marketplace plan selections were recorded in Lincoln County for 2026 — only 50 per thousand under-65 residents, against a typical 127 across the counties covered here. Employer coverage dominates locally, which has a specific consequence: when it goes, fewer people around you have any experience of what to do next. 536 of them were new consumers and 2,702 were renewals — a 17% new share, close to the national pattern. Roughly one in six enrollees here arrived within the year.
Nearest counties on coverage
The counties we cover in South Dakota whose uninsured rate sits closest to Lincoln County. Worth a look if you are comparing across a county line or moving.
| County | Uninsured | Insurers | Enrollees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnehaha County | 9.4% | 2 | 8,638 |
| Pennington County | 10.5% | 3 | 5,778 |
Everything that applies in South Dakota · How COBRA works · Work out your COBRA premium · After a job ends
Common questions
How many people are uninsured in Lincoln County?
About 4,436 people under 65, out of 64,397 in that age group — 6.9%, the 3rd lowest of the 66 counties in South Dakota. The South Dakota average is 9.9%. Census Bureau estimates for 2024, the most recent published.
How many health insurers sell in Lincoln County?
2 insurers offer individual marketplace plans in Lincoln County for 2026, unchanged from the year before, and between them they sell 41 individual medical plans. The median across the counties covered on this site is 5 insurers and 84 plans.
How many people in Lincoln County buy marketplace coverage?
3,238 plan selections for 2026 — 536 new consumers and 2,702 renewals. That works out at 50 per thousand under-65 residents, against a median of 127 across the counties covered here. New consumers are the group most likely to have lost a job during the year.
Talk it through with a licensed agent
Which option is right depends on your state, your income and which doctors you need to keep. A licensed agent can walk through it with you in about eight minutes.
Free to call, no obligation, and we never ask you for payment. CobraScout is paid by the agency that answers, not by you. TTY 711.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Health Insurance Estimates, 2024 (released August 2026)
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2026 Marketplace Open Enrollment County-Level Public Use File
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2026 Service Area Public Use File
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2026 Plan Attributes Public Use File
- U.S. Department of Labor, FAQs on COBRA Continuation Health Coverage for Workers