Counties in South Dakota by annual precipitation

Union County had the highest annual precipitation of 66 counties in 2017, at 29.76 inches. Perkins County had the lowest, at 9.8 inches. The median was 19.38 inches and the figure for South Dakota was 17.63 inches. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest29.76Union County
Median19.3866 counties
South Dakota17.63History

Map of counties, 2017

Aurora County: 20.54 inchesBeadle County: 22.07 inchesBennett County: 20.09 inchesBon Homme County: 26.55 inchesBrookings County: 27.32 inchesBrown County: 15.12 inchesBrule County: 18.63 inchesBuffalo County: 17.49 inchesButte County: 12.97 inchesCampbell County: 14.7 inchesCharles Mix County: 23.3 inchesClark County: 22.99 inchesClay County: 28.9 inchesCodington County: 24.61 inchesCorson County: 12.85 inchesCuster County: 16.81 inchesDavison County: 22.93 inchesDay County: 18.58 inchesDeuel County: 27.74 inchesDewey County: 13.68 inchesDouglas County: 22 inchesEdmunds County: 16.02 inchesFall River County: 15.24 inchesFaulk County: 16.55 inchesGrant County: 25.87 inchesGregory County: 23.08 inchesHaakon County: 12.73 inchesHamlin County: 26.17 inchesHand County: 18.11 inchesHanson County: 22.51 inchesHarding County: 13.17 inchesHughes County: 15.64 inchesHutchinson County: 23.94 inchesHyde County: 16.35 inchesJackson County: 15.38 inchesJerauld County: 20.43 inchesJones County: 14.87 inchesKingsbury County: 26.13 inchesLake County: 24.31 inchesLawrence County: 20.83 inchesLincoln County: 27.56 inchesLyman County: 17.32 inchesMcCook County: 23.3 inchesMcPherson County: 15.95 inchesMarshall County: 18.61 inchesMeade County: 11.91 inchesMellette County: 18.66 inchesMiner County: 24.71 inchesMinnehaha County: 24.08 inchesMoody County: 25.58 inchesOglala Lakota County: 16.96 inchesPennington County: 14.01 inchesPerkins County: 9.8 inchesPotter County: 16.59 inchesRoberts County: 21.02 inchesSanborn County: 23.66 inchesSpink County: 18.62 inchesStanley County: 12.69 inchesSully County: 15.03 inchesTodd County: 20.72 inchesTripp County: 21.03 inchesTurner County: 26.59 inchesUnion County: 29.76 inchesWalworth County: 16.71 inchesYankton County: 27.13 inchesZiebach County: 12.32 inches
  • Under 15
  • 15 to 17
  • 17 to 19
  • 19 to 23
  • 23 to 26
  • 26 and over
inches, 2017. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2017

Union County: 29.76 inchesUnion County29.76Clay County: 28.9 inchesClay County28.9Deuel County: 27.74 inchesDeuel County27.74Lincoln County: 27.56 inchesLincoln County27.56Brookings County: 27.32 inchesBrookings County27.32Yankton County: 27.13 inchesYankton County27.13Turner County: 26.59 inchesTurner County26.59Bon Homme County: 26.55 inchesBon Homme County26.55Hamlin County: 26.17 inchesHamlin County26.17Kingsbury County: 26.13 inchesKingsbury County26.13Grant County: 25.87 inchesGrant County25.87Moody County: 25.58 inchesMoody County25.58Miner County: 24.71 inchesMiner County24.71Codington County: 24.61 inchesCodington County24.61Lake County: 24.31 inchesLake County24.31Minnehaha County: 24.08 inchesMinnehaha County24.08Hutchinson County: 23.94 inchesHutchinson County23.94Sanborn County: 23.66 inchesSanborn County23.66Charles Mix County: 23.3 inchesCharles Mix County23.3McCook County: 23.3 inchesMcCook County23.3Gregory County: 23.08 inchesGregory County23.08Clark County: 22.99 inchesClark County22.99Davison County: 22.93 inchesDavison County22.93Hanson County: 22.51 inchesHanson County22.51Beadle County: 22.07 inchesBeadle County22.07Douglas County: 22 inchesDouglas County22Tripp County: 21.03 inchesTripp County21.03Roberts County: 21.02 inchesRoberts County21.02Lawrence County: 20.83 inchesLawrence County20.83Todd County: 20.72 inchesTodd County20.72Aurora County: 20.54 inchesAurora County20.54Jerauld County: 20.43 inchesJerauld County20.43Bennett County: 20.09 inchesBennett County20.09Mellette County: 18.66 inchesMellette County18.66Brule County: 18.63 inchesBrule County18.63Spink County: 18.62 inchesSpink County18.62Marshall County: 18.61 inchesMarshall County18.61Day County: 18.58 inchesDay County18.58Hand County: 18.11 inchesHand County18.11Buffalo County: 17.49 inchesBuffalo County17.49Union County: 29.76 inchesUnion County29.76Clay County: 28.9 inchesClay County28.9Deuel County: 27.74 inchesDeuel County27.74Lincoln County: 27.56 inchesLincoln County27.56Brookings County: 27.32 inchesBrookings County27.32Yankton County: 27.13 inchesYankton County27.13Turner County: 26.59 inchesTurner County26.59Bon Homme County: 26.55 inchesBon Homme County26.55Hamlin County: 26.17 inchesHamlin County26.17Kingsbury County: 26.13 inchesKingsbury County26.13Grant County: 25.87 inchesGrant County25.87Moody County: 25.58 inchesMoody County25.58Miner County: 24.71 inchesMiner County24.71Codington County: 24.61 inchesCodington County24.61Lake County: 24.31 inchesLake County24.31Minnehaha County: 24.08 inchesMinnehaha County24.08Hutchinson County: 23.94 inchesHutchinson County23.94Sanborn County: 23.66 inchesSanborn County23.66Charles Mix County: 23.3 inchesCharles Mix County23.3McCook County: 23.3 inchesMcCook County23.3Gregory County: 23.08 inchesGregory County23.08Clark County: 22.99 inchesClark County22.99Davison County: 22.93 inchesDavison County22.93Hanson County: 22.51 inchesHanson County22.51Beadle County: 22.07 inchesBeadle County22.07Douglas County: 22 inchesDouglas County22Tripp County: 21.03 inchesTripp County21.03Roberts County: 21.02 inchesRoberts County21.02Lawrence County: 20.83 inchesLawrence County20.83Todd County: 20.72 inchesTodd County20.72Aurora County: 20.54 inchesAurora County20.54Jerauld County: 20.43 inchesJerauld County20.43Bennett County: 20.09 inchesBennett County20.09Mellette County: 18.66 inchesMellette County18.66Brule County: 18.63 inchesBrule County18.63Spink County: 18.62 inchesSpink County18.62Marshall County: 18.61 inchesMarshall County18.61Day County: 18.58 inchesDay County18.58Hand County: 18.11 inchesHand County18.11Buffalo County: 17.49 inchesBuffalo County17.49
inches. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCounties2017
inches
Change on 2016
1Union County29.76-2.4%
2Clay County28.9-9.7%
3Deuel County27.74-7.2%
4Lincoln County27.56-14.9%
5Brookings County27.32-10.5%
6Yankton County27.13-15.4%
7Turner County26.59-9.2%
8Bon Homme County26.55-20.4%
9Hamlin County26.17-2.6%
10Kingsbury County26.13-1.9%
11Grant County25.87-5.6%
12Moody County25.58-17.7%
13Miner County24.71-5.9%
14Codington County24.61-4.6%
15Lake County24.31-11%
16Minnehaha County24.08-17.4%
17Hutchinson County23.94-20.8%
18Sanborn County23.66-12.6%
19Charles Mix County23.3-18.6%
19McCook County23.3-11.7%
21Gregory County23.08-11.9%
22Clark County22.99-3.5%
23Davison County22.93-22.4%
24Hanson County22.51-18.1%
25Beadle County22.07+0.4%
26Douglas County22-22.8%
27Tripp County21.03-0.4%
28Roberts County21.02-14.1%
29Lawrence County20.83+12.7%
30Todd County20.72-13.2%
31Aurora County20.54-21.1%
32Jerauld County20.43-14.2%
33Bennett County20.09-3.6%
34Mellette County18.66-0.6%
35Brule County18.63-19.5%
36Spink County18.62-7.2%
37Marshall County18.61-21.8%
38Day County18.58-18.7%
39Hand County18.11-12%
40Buffalo County17.49-17%
41Lyman County17.32-14%
42Oglala Lakota County16.96+3.2%
43Custer County16.81+2%
44Walworth County16.71-21.7%
45Potter County16.59-20.3%
46Faulk County16.55-13.1%
47Hyde County16.35-14.6%
48Edmunds County16.02-19.9%
49McPherson County15.95-30.9%
50Hughes County15.64-18.4%
51Jackson County15.38-10.9%
52Fall River County15.24+1.1%
53Brown County15.12-34.3%
54Sully County15.03-23.2%
55Jones County14.87-21.7%
56Campbell County14.7-29.7%
57Pennington County14.01-11%
58Dewey County13.68-29.5%
59Harding County13.17+2.7%
60Butte County12.97-1.9%
61Corson County12.85-33%
62Haakon County12.73-24.1%
63Stanley County12.69-30.8%
64Ziebach County12.32-30.1%
65Meade County11.91-20.9%
66Perkins County9.8-29.8%

Other periods

About this ranking

Total precipitation from January to December, in inches: rain plus the water content of snow and other frozen precipitation. NOAA computes it from its climate divisional dataset (nClimDiv): station readings interpolated onto a 5 km grid and averaged over the area.

Values are area averages, not the reading at one weather station. NOAA revises the last two years every month.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. From the NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Divisional Database (nClimDiv), doi:10.7289/V5M32STR. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. (2026). NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties (Counties in South Dakota by annual precipitation, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping

MLA 9

NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties, Counties in South Dakota by annual precipitation, 2017. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 6 Oct. 2026, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/south-dakota-counties?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. 2026. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Counties in South Dakota by annual precipitation, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/south-dakota-counties?period=2017.

Harvard

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2026) NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties, Counties in South Dakota by annual precipitation, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/south-dakota-counties?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{noaa_counties_in_south_dakota_2017,
  author = {{NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information}},
  title = {{NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties: Counties in South Dakota by annual precipitation, 2017}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/south-dakota-counties?period=2017. Publisher attribution: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. From the NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Divisional Database (nClimDiv), doi:10.7289/V5M32STR. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
TI  - NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties: Counties in South Dakota by annual precipitation, 2017
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/06
PB  - NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/south-dakota-counties?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/south-dakota-counties?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. From the NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Divisional Database (nClimDiv), doi:10.7289/V5M32STR. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Questions

Which county has the highest annual precipitation?

Union County, with 29.76 inches in 2017, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which county has the lowest annual precipitation?

Perkins County, with 9.8 inches in 2017.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Annual precipitation: other rankings

Counties in South Dakota: more rankings