RANKING · 2020 CENSUS · 66 SHOWN OF 66

Most densely populated, South Dakota counties · 2020

South Dakota counties ranked by residents per square mile (2023). This list covers the 66 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, SDSD212,691244+33%

02Lincoln County, SDSD77,145113+170%

03Davison County, SDSD20,06946+6%

04Yankton County, SDSD23,63545+8%

05Brookings County, SDSD37,63543+22%

06Codington County, SDSD29,56241+9%

07Pennington County, SDSD116,79239+23%

08Union County, SDSD17,40236+34%

09Clay County, SDSD15,03136+11%

10Lawrence County, SDSD29,45932+18%

11Hughes County, SDSD17,57024+8%

12Brown County, SDSD37,56122+8%

13Lake County, SDSD10,99320−2%

14Beadle County, SDSD19,62415+12%

15Turner County, SDSD9,31414−2%

16Bon Homme County, SDSD7,24412−4%

17Moody County, SDSD6,63212−4%

18Hamlin County, SDSD6,90012+11%

19Grant County, SDSD7,53411−4%

20McCook County, SDSD5,96410−3%

21Roberts County, SDSD10,2559+3%

22Hutchinson County, SDSD7,4139−8%

23Meade County, SDSD30,7119+23%

24Charles Mix County, SDSD9,3039+0%

25Hanson County, SDSD3,4568+10%

26Walworth County, SDSD5,2178−11%

27Deuel County, SDSD4,4087−5%

28Todd County, SDSD8,8637+3%

29Douglas County, SDSD2,8887−18%

30Oglala Lakota County, SDSD13,3387–

31Brule County, SDSD5,2786−2%

32Kingsbury County, SDSD5,2846−11%

33Custer County, SDSD9,4315+14%

34Day County, SDSD5,4845−13%

35Marshall County, SDSD4,4265−6%

36Butte County, SDSD10,8565+13%

37Spink County, SDSD6,1554−15%

38Buffalo County, SDSD1,8024−4%

39Sanborn County, SDSD2,3884−13%

40Miner County, SDSD2,2814−20%

41Fall River County, SDSD7,4674−6%

42Clark County, SDSD4,0314−7%

43Gregory County, SDSD4,0374−17%

44Aurora County, SDSD2,8014−10%

45Edmunds County, SDSD4,0224−9%

46Tripp County, SDSD5,7083−13%

47Jerauld County, SDSD1,6543−28%

48Potter County, SDSD2,3773−8%

49Bennett County, SDSD3,3073−5%

50Dewey County, SDSD5,4192−12%

51Lyman County, SDSD3,6942−5%

52Hand County, SDSD3,1212−16%

53Faulk County, SDSD2,1782−20%

54McPherson County, SDSD2,3472−17%

55Stanley County, SDSD3,0182+8%

56Campbell County, SDSD1,3772−23%

57Corson County, SDSD3,7812−7%

58Jackson County, SDSD2,6662−4%

59Mellette County, SDSD2,1371−8%

60Hyde County, SDSD1,1911−24%

61Sully County, SDSD1,4791−7%

62Ziebach County, SDSD2,3891−4%

63Haakon County, SDSD1,8021−15%

64Perkins County, SDSD2,8531−16%

65Jones County, SDSD9131−23%

66Harding County, SDSD1,3310−3%

SHOWING 1–66 OF 66

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