SOUTH DAKOTA
Highest 1905-13 pre-state plate known: #16688
1913-15 plates are undated. 1913 numbers have serifs on "1" and "4",
1914 numbers have round corners, 1915 numbers have square corners.
Numbers in bold are known assignments. Truck began 1920.
Distribution from county treasurers began 1920 for passenger only,
assigned alphabetically.
1913 66 - 14048 1920 30000 - 141856 (111,857)
1914 1 - 20749 1921 30764 - 154085 (123,322*)
1915 1 - 28628 1922 30176 - 149930 (119,755*)
1916 106 - 42688 1923 30-534 - 152-816 (122,283)
1917 1 - 66598 1924 20-001 - 151-045 (131,045)
1918 305 - 83497 (Ziebach ended at 147-000)
1918 305 - 83497
1919 165 - 109217* (13 and 15 also seen with flanking stars)
1920 BLOCKS
"dollars numbers" 1 - 1299 (Lost plates)
Motorcycle 1300 - 2299
Truck 2300 - 22999
US/State Vehicle 01 - 01000
FORMATS 1925-38, 1945-49 1-1000 - 9-9999
A1-1000 - A1-9999
10-1000 - 64-9999
1925-55 county codes on County Code page.
(For detailed A1/A7 analysis, see Misc. 2)
A1 = Minnehaha county overflow after #1-9999 1925-29 (chosen
because 1A could have been confused with Iowa "IA").
Minnehaha county residents outside of Sioux Falls 1930-37.
Sioux Falls city residents 1938.
A7 = Aberdeen city residents 1934-42.
Brown overflow expected 1949 (A7-1579).
A51 = Pennington overflow expected 1949 (A51-869).
FORMATS 1939-40
OUTSIDE CITY LIMITS INSIDE CITY LIMITS
1-1000 - 9-9999 1A1000 - 9B9999
10-1000 - 64-9999 10A1000 - 64B9999
1939: City resident series issued in counties 1, 3, 6, 7, 15,
18, 40, 41, 51, 63 for parking priveleges in cities of
5,000 or more.
1940: City resident series issued only in counties 1 and 7.
However, Pennington assigned #51-1000 to 51-5399 to city
residents and #51-5400 up to county residents (51-5646 seen).
FORMATS 1941-44
OUTSIDE CITY LIMITS INSIDE CITY LIMITS
1-1000 - 9-99999 1:1000 - 9:99999
10-1000 - 64-9999 10:1000 - 64:9999
City resident series same as 1939 except County 41 dropped;
two-star plates issued in specific number blocks of regular series.
Cities assigned lowest number blocks 1941 except counties 1 and 7.
Counties assigned lowest number blocks initially in 1942.
1943 TAB 178 - 178113 (Issued to both passenger and truck)
(For 1939-42 city/county analysis, see Misc. 3)
FORMATS 1950-52 Letters not seen: I,O,Q.
COUNTIES 1 - 9 (Capacity) COUNTIES 10 - 64, A1 (Capacity)
1-1000 - 1-9999 (9,000) 10-100 - 10-999 (900)
1-A000 - 1-Z999 (23,000) 10-A00 - 10-Z99 (2,300)
10-0A0 - 10-9Z9 (2,300)
10-00A - 10-99Z (2,300)
A51-00 - Z51-99 (2,300)
51-0AA - 51-9ZZ (5,290)
(For highest number expected per county and format, see Misc. 1)
FORMATS 1953-55 Letters not seen: I,K,O,Q,U,X,Y,Z.
1-1000 - 9-9999, 1-A000 - 7-Z999 (K,U seen on Truck)
10-1000 - 64-9999, 51-A000 - 51-Z999
Unknown type: 1954 70-1040
LETTER SERIES - HIGHEST NUMBER EXPECTED PER REGISTRATION FIGURES
Assuming no I,O,Q used. *Observed plate above registrations.
1953 1-T897 7-B955 51-F926 (24,781) 11%
1954 1-V054 7-C168 51-H025 (27,250) 12%
1955 1-X613 7-C691* 51-J125* (31,432) 13%
FORMATS 1956-75
1-1000 - 9-99999 (1-10000 1957-75)
A1-1000 - B1-9999
10-1000 - 67-9999
1956-75 county codes on County Code page. Counties 1-9 assigned by
population rank: 1 = 1 3 = 7 5 - 15 7 = 63 9 = 41
2 = 51 4 = 3 6 = 6 8 = 18
A1/B1 = Minnehaha county outside of Sioux Falls
65/66/67 = Unorganized counties (earliest known 1961)
77 = Special Dealer (began 1956, #77-1943 seen)
88 = Truck Dealer (1969 #88-1002 seen)
TABS 1958 119557 - 352270 Passenger (orange/maroon)
426893 - 454423 Truck (light blue/maroon)
615439 - 646342 Trailer/H (light yellow/maroon)
903532 - Unknown (white/maroon)
1959 105835 - 354099 Passenger (black/red)
418904 - 425945 Truck (black/yellow)
900252 - State Veh. (black/orange)
1976-80 BICENTENNIAL BASE County codes on County Code page.
1976 AU:1000 - ZB:9999
Original assignment (419,058 P). No I,Q used.
Trucks use same codes as suffixes.
Non-Passenger prefixes: AH, CF, HM, IM.
Replaced 1981.
1981-86 COUNTY NAME BASE Trucks issued passenger plates.
1981 Type 1 AAA:001 - BRP:599 (668,930 P)
1982 Type 1a CAB:001 - KAS:888 (613,275 P)
(TOTAL 1,282,205 P)
Type 1: No D,I,O,Q,S,U used.
Type 1a: No A,E,I,O,Q,U used in 1st or 3rd position,
only A,E,I,O,U used in 2nd position.
Initial county assignment AAA-BLP (589,410), secondary BLR-BPA (47,952).
Order same as 1956-75 except Shannon after Fall River, Todd after
Tripp, Washabaugh omitted. Washabaugh absorbed by Jackson 7/1/1981.
Omitted prefixes: ATE, BAG, BAH.
BRA prefix withdrawn after 450 issued. DAM-435 seen.
Replaced 1987.
1987-91 CENTENNIAL BASE No I,O,Q* used.
1987 1AA 001 - 9JZ 999 550,795 P 55.2%
10A 001 - 67Z 999 447,855 P 44.8%
998,650 P
*Q used for overflow in counties 19,27,62 only.
1987-2006: County codes same as 1956-75 exceept A1/B1, 66 dropped.
Optional "Celebrate the Century" decal issued 1989.
Replaced during 1991.
1991-96 GREAT FACES BASE No I,O,Q used.
Nov.90 "03-91" 1A 0001 - 9W 9999 585,287 P 52.5%
10 C001 - 67 Z999 392,443 P 35.2%
(14 counties) 10 AA01 - 67 PZ99 137,115 P 12.3%
1,114,845 P
Counties 10-67 start beyond where 1987-91 base ended.
Replaced during 1996.
1996-2000 LARGE FACES BASE
Jan.96 "06-96" 1A00001 - 9B99999 568,248 P 52.9%
10A0001 - 67D9999 506,030 P 47.1%
1,074,278 P
Replaced during 2000.
2000-06 SMALL FACES BASE N.D. dies. No I,O,Q used.
Jan.00? "5-00" 1AA 001 - 9MZ 999 781,218 P 51.6%
10A 001 - 67Z 999 665,334 P 44.0%
(4 counties) 10A A01 - 67R Z99 66,528 P 4.4%
1,513,080 P
Totals based on starting number of 2007-16 base.
Replaced during 2006.
2007-16 LARGE FACES BASE Flat. No I,O,Q used.
Jan.06 "01-07" 1BL 001 - 9ZZ 999 935,512 P 47.1%
10E 001 - 67Z 999 411,670 P 20.7%
(29 counties) 10A A01 - 67Z Z99 411,889 P 20.8%
2011 "05-12" 1AA A01 - 1CK H83 126,011 P 6.3%
8/10/06 44A AA1 - 44T MD8,
49A AA1 - 49E TV7,
62A AA1 - 62A BK7 101,308 P 5.1%
1,986,390 P
All counties start beyond where 2000-06 base ended.
Replaced during 2016.
2016-23 NEW LARGE FACES BASE Flat. No I,O,Q used.
Jan.16 "7-16" 1A0 001 - 9Z9 999 829,179 P 46.3%
10A 001 - 67Z 999 658,804 P 36.7%
(8 counties) 10A A01 - 67Z Z99 134,589 P 7.5%
2018 "6-19" 1AA 001 - 1EP 251,
2AA 001 - 2BV 326 146,431 P 8.2%
7/29/20 44A AA1 - 44E YD3 23,421 P 1.3%
1,792,424 P
Replaced during 2023.
2024- THIRD LARGE FACES BASE Flat. No I,O,Q used.
Jan.23 "1-24" 1F0 001 - 9Z9 999 (Counties 3-9)
1AA 001 - 9ZZ 999 (Counties 1-2)
10F 001 - 67Z 999 (All counties except below nine)
10A A01 - 67Z Z99 (Counties 15,19,21,36,43,49,55,62)
"1-24" 10A AA1 - 67Z ZZ9 (County 44)
All counties start beyond where 2016-23 base ended.
County 44's capacity is only 85,698, so a new format will appear.
