RANKING · 1990 CENSUS · 65 SHOWN OF 65

Most densely populated, South Dakota counties · 1990

South Dakota counties ranked by residents per square mile (2023). This list covers the 65 counties in South Dakota that qualify, ranked against each other statewide.

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SAME RANKING BYCities States Metros

RELATEDLargest by population Fastest growing Fastest shrinking Most sparsely populated Best broadband access Worst broadband access

YEAR1990 2000 2010 2020 2025

RANKPLACESTATEPOPPOPULATION DENSITYVS 2000

01Minnehaha County, SDSD212,691153−17%

02Davison County, SDSD20,06940−7%

03Yankton County, SDSD23,63537−11%

04Codington County, SDSD29,56233−12%

05Clay County, SDSD15,03132−3%

06Brookings County, SDSD37,63532−11%

07Pennington County, SDSD116,79229−8%

08Lincoln County, SDSD77,14527−36%

09Lawrence County, SDSD29,45926−5%

10Union County, SDSD17,40222−19%

11Brown County, SDSD37,56121+0%

12Hughes County, SDSD17,57020−10%

13Lake County, SDSD10,99319−6%

14Beadle County, SDSD19,62415+7%

15Turner County, SDSD9,31414−3%

16Bon Homme County, SDSD7,24413−2%

17Moody County, SDSD6,63213−1%

18Grant County, SDSD7,53412+7%

19Hutchinson County, SDSD7,41310+2%

20McCook County, SDSD5,96410−2%

21Hamlin County, SDSD6,90010−10%

22Roberts County, SDSD10,2559−1%

23Douglas County, SDSD2,8889+8%

24Walworth County, SDSD5,2179+2%

25Charles Mix County, SDSD9,3038−2%

26Deuel County, SDSD4,4087+1%

27Kingsbury County, SDSD5,2847+2%

28Hanson County, SDSD3,4567−5%

29Day County, SDSD5,4847+11%

30Brule County, SDSD5,2787+2%

31Meade County, SDSD30,7116−10%

32Todd County, SDSD8,8636−8%

33Marshall County, SDSD4,4266+6%

34Miner County, SDSD2,2816+13%

35Spink County, SDSD6,1555+7%

36Gregory County, SDSD4,0375+12%

37Sanborn County, SDSD2,3885+6%

38Jerauld County, SDSD1,6545+6%

39Clark County, SDSD4,0315+6%

40Aurora County, SDSD2,8014+3%

41Tripp County, SDSD5,7084+8%

42Fall River County, SDSD7,4674−1%

43Custer County, SDSD9,4314−15%

44Edmunds County, SDSD4,0224−0%

45Buffalo County, SDSD1,8024−13%

46Potter County, SDSD2,3774+18%

47Butte County, SDSD10,8564−13%

48Hand County, SDSD3,1213+14%

49McPherson County, SDSD2,3473+11%

50Faulk County, SDSD2,1783+4%

51Bennett County, SDSD3,3073−10%

52Campbell County, SDSD1,3773+10%

53Dewey County, SDSD5,4192−8%

54Lyman County, SDSD3,6942−7%

55Hyde County, SDSD1,1912+1%

56Corson County, SDSD3,7812+0%

57Stanley County, SDSD3,0182−12%

58Mellette County, SDSD2,1372+3%

59Sully County, SDSD1,4792+2%

60Jackson County, SDSD2,6662−4%

61Haakon County, SDSD1,8021+19%

62Perkins County, SDSD2,8531+17%

63Jones County, SDSD9131+11%

64Ziebach County, SDSD2,3891−12%

65Harding County, SDSD1,3311+23%

SHOWING 1–65 OF 65

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UPDATED 2026-06-02 · DATA: US CENSUS BUREAU ACS 5-YEAR ESTIMATES