Counties in South Dakota by employer firms

Minnehaha County had the highest employer firms of 66 counties in 2015, at 4,173. Buffalo County had the lowest, at 9. The median was 148 and the figure for South Dakota was 19,596. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest4,173Minnehaha County
Median14866 counties
South Dakota19,596History

Map of counties, 2015

Aurora County: 68 countBeadle County: 482 countBennett County: 58 countBon Homme County: 150 countBrookings County: 758 countBrown County: 1,108 countBrule County: 194 countBuffalo County: 9 countButte County: 283 countCampbell County: 47 countCharles Mix County: 238 countClark County: 102 countClay County: 272 countCodington County: 944 countCorson County: 37 countCuster County: 205 countDavison County: 635 countDay County: 153 countDeuel County: 105 countDewey County: 86 countDouglas County: 87 countEdmunds County: 109 countFall River County: 185 countFaulk County: 54 countGrant County: 256 countGregory County: 158 countHaakon County: 67 countHamlin County: 159 countHand County: 113 countHanson County: 79 countHarding County: 36 countHughes County: 568 countHutchinson County: 198 countHyde County: 39 countJackson County: 46 countJerauld County: 64 countJones County: 39 countKingsbury County: 146 countLake County: 312 countLawrence County: 883 countLincoln County: 1,361 countLyman County: 58 countMcCook County: 165 countMcPherson County: 72 countMarshall County: 120 countMeade County: 636 countMellette County: 21 countMiner County: 66 countMinnehaha County: 4,173 countMoody County: 151 countOglala Lakota County: 57 countPennington County: 2,945 countPerkins County: 103 countPotter County: 86 countRoberts County: 182 countSanborn County: 47 countSpink County: 158 countStanley County: 95 countSully County: 52 countTodd County: 57 countTripp County: 161 countTurner County: 205 countUnion County: 420 countWalworth County: 189 countYankton County: 663 countZiebach County: 20 count
  • Under 50
  • 50 to 80
  • 80 to 150
  • 150 to 190
  • 190 to 500
  • 500 and over
count, 2015. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2015

Minnehaha County: 4,173 countMinnehaha County4,173Pennington County: 2,945 countPennington County2,945Lincoln County: 1,361 countLincoln County1,361Brown County: 1,108 countBrown County1,108Codington County: 944 countCodington County944Lawrence County: 883 countLawrence County883Brookings County: 758 countBrookings County758Yankton County: 663 countYankton County663Meade County: 636 countMeade County636Davison County: 635 countDavison County635Hughes County: 568 countHughes County568Beadle County: 482 countBeadle County482Union County: 420 countUnion County420Lake County: 312 countLake County312Butte County: 283 countButte County283Clay County: 272 countClay County272Grant County: 256 countGrant County256Charles Mix County: 238 countCharles Mix County238Custer County: 205 countCuster County205Turner County: 205 countTurner County205Hutchinson County: 198 countHutchinson County198Brule County: 194 countBrule County194Walworth County: 189 countWalworth County189Fall River County: 185 countFall River County185Roberts County: 182 countRoberts County182McCook County: 165 countMcCook County165Tripp County: 161 countTripp County161Hamlin County: 159 countHamlin County159Gregory County: 158 countGregory County158Spink County: 158 countSpink County158Day County: 153 countDay County153Moody County: 151 countMoody County151Bon Homme County: 150 countBon Homme County150Kingsbury County: 146 countKingsbury County146Marshall County: 120 countMarshall County120Hand County: 113 countHand County113Edmunds County: 109 countEdmunds County109Deuel County: 105 countDeuel County105Perkins County: 103 countPerkins County103Clark County: 102 countClark County102Minnehaha County: 4,173 countMinnehaha County4,173Pennington County: 2,945 countPennington County2,945Lincoln County: 1,361 countLincoln County1,361Brown County: 1,108 countBrown County1,108Codington County: 944 countCodington County944Lawrence County: 883 countLawrence County883Brookings County: 758 countBrookings County758Yankton County: 663 countYankton County663Meade County: 636 countMeade County636Davison County: 635 countDavison County635Hughes County: 568 countHughes County568Beadle County: 482 countBeadle County482Union County: 420 countUnion County420Lake County: 312 countLake County312Butte County: 283 countButte County283Clay County: 272 countClay County272Grant County: 256 countGrant County256Charles Mix County: 238 countCharles Mix County238Custer County: 205 countCuster County205Turner County: 205 countTurner County205Hutchinson County: 198 countHutchinson County198Brule County: 194 countBrule County194Walworth County: 189 countWalworth County189Fall River County: 185 countFall River County185Roberts County: 182 countRoberts County182McCook County: 165 countMcCook County165Tripp County: 161 countTripp County161Hamlin County: 159 countHamlin County159Gregory County: 158 countGregory County158Spink County: 158 countSpink County158Day County: 153 countDay County153Moody County: 151 countMoody County151Bon Homme County: 150 countBon Homme County150Kingsbury County: 146 countKingsbury County146Marshall County: 120 countMarshall County120Hand County: 113 countHand County113Edmunds County: 109 countEdmunds County109Deuel County: 105 countDeuel County105Perkins County: 103 countPerkins County103Clark County: 102 countClark County102
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Full ranking

RankCounties2015
count
Change on 2014
1Minnehaha County4,173+1%
2Pennington County2,945+2.3%
3Lincoln County1,361+3.8%
4Brown County1,108+1.6%
5Codington County944+0.5%
6Lawrence County883+1%
7Brookings County758+1.6%
8Yankton County663+3.6%
9Meade County636-0.3%
10Davison County635+1.9%
11Hughes County568+1.4%
12Beadle County482+0.4%
13Union County420+0.2%
14Lake County312-1.3%
15Butte County283+2.2%
16Clay County272+0.7%
17Grant County256+4.5%
18Charles Mix County238+1.3%
19Custer County205+1.5%
19Turner County205-2.4%
21Hutchinson County198-2%
22Brule County1940%
23Walworth County189+1.1%
24Fall River County185+4.5%
25Roberts County182-2.2%
26McCook County1650%
27Tripp County161-5.8%
28Hamlin County159+4.6%
29Gregory County158+1.3%
29Spink County1580%
31Day County1530%
32Moody County151+4.9%
33Bon Homme County150+2%
34Kingsbury County146-0.7%
35Marshall County120-5.5%
36Hand County113+7.6%
37Edmunds County109-1.8%
38Deuel County105+2.9%
39Perkins County103+2%
40Clark County102+5.2%
41Stanley County95-4%
42Douglas County87-3.3%
43Dewey County86-1.1%
43Potter County86-8.5%
45Hanson County79+12.9%
46McPherson County72+12.5%
47Aurora County68-6.8%
48Haakon County67-2.9%
49Miner County66+4.8%
50Jerauld County64-8.6%
51Bennett County58+7.4%
51Lyman County58-1.7%
53Oglala Lakota County57-1.7%
53Todd County57-5%
55Faulk County540%
56Sully County52-5.5%
57Campbell County47+4.4%
57Sanborn County47+4.4%
59Jackson County46+12.2%
60Hyde County39+5.4%
60Jones County39-2.5%
62Corson County37-5.1%
63Harding County36-7.7%
64Mellette County21-4.5%
65Ziebach County200%
66Buffalo County9+12.5%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of firms in the private nonfarm sectors covered by the US Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics. Establishments under common ownership form one firm.

Excludes nonemployer businesses. Differs from active_companies, the INE DIRCE count, which includes businesses without employees.

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

U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

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

U.S. Census Bureau. (2025). Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties (Counties in South Dakota by employer firms, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv

MLA 9

Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in South Dakota by employer firms, 2015. U.S. Census Bureau, 25 Sept. 2025, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/south-dakota-counties?period=2015. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Counties in South Dakota by employer firms, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 11, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/south-dakota-counties?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in South Dakota by employer firms, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/south-dakota-counties?period=2015 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_south_dakota_2015,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in South Dakota by employer firms, 2015}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-11},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/south-dakota-counties?period=2015. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023\_st\_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-11.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in South Dakota by employer firms, 2015
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/09/25
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/south-dakota-counties?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/south-dakota-counties?period=2015.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
ER  - 
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Counties in South Dakota by employer firms using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"employer_firms","level":"province","within":"South Dakota","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=employer_firms&level=province&within=South%20Dakota&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest employer firms?

Minnehaha County, with 4,173 in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Buffalo County, with 9 in 2015.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Employer firms: other rankings

Counties in South Dakota: more rankings