Vale, South Dakota

Vale is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Butte County, South Dakota, United States. According to the 2020 census, the population was 130. Vale has been assigned the ZIP code of 57788. The public school located in Vale, whose mascot was The Beet Diggers, closed in 1982.

Vale was so-named because the town site is located in a valley.

The Full Throttle Saloon, a large bar and entertainment site described as the world's largest biker bar and previously the subject of the reality television series Full Throttle Saloon, was rebuilt, moving from nearby Sturgis to 600 acres in Vale near Bear Butte.

Demographics
The 2022 U.S. Decennial Census reported a total population of 130. Vale's median age was 58.7 years, much higher than the state's 38.5 median; and 48.4% are over the age of 65. 122 of Vale's residents reported only white ethnicity; 2 reported Native American, 2 reported Asian, 3 reported Hispanic/Latino heritage, and 4 reported they were multiracial. The largest heritage group was Norwegian, with 23.7% of residents reporting Norwegian ancestry.

Vale has a poverty rate much higher than the state average. The median household income was $20,139, and the overall poverty rate was 26.9%, as opposed to the state's overall 12.5%. Only 11.1% of residents had completed a bachelor's degree or higher, in contrast to 31.6% of all South Dakotans. Most working residents are employed in education or social services, but the second-highest employment category is in agriculture.