RANKING · 2000 CENSUS · 19 SHOWN OF 19

Most sparsely populated, South Dakota cities · 2000

South Dakota cities with the fewest residents per square mile (2000). This list covers the 19 cities in South Dakota that qualify, ranked against each other statewide. The median across all 19 is 1,089.

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South DakotaAll statesPop > 5KAll rankings

SAME RANKING BYCounties States Metros

YEAR1990 2000 2010 2020 2025

RANKPLACESTATEPOPPOPULATION DENSITYVS 1990

01Box Elder, SDSD13,936193+6%

02Harrisburg, SDSD10,405201+33%

03Tea, SDSD8,019460+120%

04Spearfish, SDSD14,154499+24%

05Belle Fourche, SDSD5,791516+5%

06Brandon, SDSD11,306995–

07Sturgis, SDSD6,9221,003+21%

08Pierre, SDSD13,8481,065+8%

09Rapid City, SDSD80,5891,082+9%

10Rapid Valley, SDSD6,9751,089+18%

11Watertown, SDSD23,7361,098+15%

12Huron, SDSD14,6071,224−4%

13Mitchell, SDSD15,7561,263+6%

14Brookings, SDSD25,3551,326+14%

15Madison, SDSD6,0651,417+5%

16Aberdeen, SDSD27,9611,493−1%

17Sioux Falls, SDSD213,7481,500+23%

18Yankton, SDSD15,8161,555+6%

19Vermillion, SDSD11,7202,095−3%

SHOWING 1–19 OF 19

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UPDATED 2026-09-11 · DATA: US CENSUS BUREAU DECENNIAL CENSUS