Counties in South Dakota by population

Minnehaha County had the highest population of 66 counties in 2022, at 203,516. Jones County had the lowest, at 872. The median was 5,299 and the figure for South Dakota was 909,156. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest203,516Minnehaha County
Lowest872Jones County
Median5,29966 counties
South Dakota909,156History

Top 40 counties, 2022

CSVChart (SVG)

Minnehaha CountyMinnehaha County: 203,516 persons203,516Pennington CountyPennington County: 114,307 persons114,307Lincoln CountyLincoln County: 70,957 persons70,957Brown CountyBrown County: 37,945 persons37,945Brookings CountyBrookings County: 35,385 persons35,385Meade CountyMeade County: 30,663 persons30,663Codington CountyCodington County: 28,756 persons28,756Lawrence CountyLawrence County: 27,221 persons27,221Yankton CountyYankton County: 23,418 persons23,418Davison CountyDavison County: 20,022 persons20,022Beadle CountyBeadle County: 19,276 persons19,276Hughes CountyHughes County: 17,664 persons17,664Union CountyUnion County: 17,079 persons17,079Clay CountyClay County: 15,268 persons15,268Oglala Lakota CountyOglala Lakota County: 13,475 persons13,475Lake CountyLake County: 10,947 persons10,947Butte CountyButte County: 10,789 persons10,789Roberts CountyRoberts County: 10,143 persons10,143Charles Mix CountyCharles Mix County: 9,221 persons9,221Todd CountyTodd County: 9,165 persons9,165Custer CountyCuster County: 9,012 persons9,012Turner CountyTurner County: 8,924 persons8,924Grant CountyGrant County: 7,537 persons7,537Hutchinson CountyHutchinson County: 7,378 persons7,378Fall River CountyFall River County: 7,377 persons7,377Bon Homme CountyBon Homme County: 7,089 persons7,089Hamlin CountyHamlin County: 6,413 persons6,413Moody CountyMoody County: 6,383 persons6,383Spink CountySpink County: 6,237 persons6,237McCook CountyMcCook County: 5,797 persons5,797Tripp CountyTripp County: 5,574 persons5,574Day CountyDay County: 5,480 persons5,480Brule CountyBrule County: 5,326 persons5,326Kingsbury CountyKingsbury County: 5,271 persons5,271Walworth CountyWalworth County: 5,259 persons5,259Dewey CountyDewey County: 5,094 persons5,094Marshall CountyMarshall County: 4,364 persons4,364Deuel CountyDeuel County: 4,358 persons4,358Edmunds CountyEdmunds County: 4,088 persons4,088Gregory CountyGregory County: 3,985 persons3,985
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Full ranking

RankCounties2022
persons
Change on 2021
1Minnehaha County203,516+1.8%
2Pennington County114,307+2.1%
3Lincoln County70,957+4.3%
4Brown County37,945-0.5%
5Brookings County35,385+2%
6Meade County30,663+1.2%
7Codington County28,756+0.9%
8Lawrence County27,221+4%
9Yankton County23,418+0.3%
10Davison County20,022+0.6%
11Beadle County19,276+0.5%
12Hughes County17,664-0.5%
13Union County17,079+1.2%
14Clay County15,268+0.6%
15Oglala Lakota County13,475-0.5%
16Lake County10,947+0.7%
17Butte County10,789+2.3%
18Roberts County10,143-0.3%
19Charles Mix County9,221+0.6%
20Todd County9,165-1.3%
21Custer County9,012+4.3%
22Turner County8,924+2.7%
23Grant County7,537-0.3%
24Hutchinson County7,3780%
25Fall River County7,377+2.2%
26Bon Homme County7,089+1.1%
27Hamlin County6,413+2.4%
28Moody County6,383+1%
29Spink County6,237-0.5%
30McCook County5,797+1.4%
31Tripp County5,574-0%
32Day County5,480+1.1%
33Brule County5,326+1.4%
34Kingsbury County5,271+1.3%
35Walworth County5,259+0.1%
36Dewey County5,094-2.3%
37Marshall County4,364+1.1%
38Deuel County4,358+1.5%
39Edmunds County4,088+1.4%
40Gregory County3,985+0.9%
41Clark County3,948+1.9%
42Corson County3,809-1%
43Lyman County3,691-1.2%
44Hanson County3,464-1.3%
45Bennett County3,337-1.8%
46Hand County3,119+1.1%
47Stanley County3,010-0.7%
48Jackson County2,829-1.2%
49Douglas County2,793-0.7%
50Perkins County2,792-0.9%
51Aurora County2,758+1%
52Potter County2,445-0.8%
53Sanborn County2,409+1.3%
54McPherson County2,400-0.5%
55Ziebach County2,379-0%
56Miner County2,285-1%
57Faulk County2,1160%
58Mellette County1,866-1.6%
59Buffalo County1,830-2.8%
60Haakon County1,829-0.5%
61Jerauld County1,655+0.7%
62Sully County1,476+0.1%
63Campbell County1,366-0.9%
64Harding County1,325+0.3%
65Hyde County1,190-3.1%
66Jones County872-0.7%

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population. Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (PadrĂ³n). United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July. Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

For Denmark, Statistics Denmark counts the registered resident population on 1 January. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are excluded. The annual series selects the first-quarter reference date from FOLK1A. The World Bank series exists for every country, so use it (through compare) to rank countries on one basis.

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. Annual estimates of the resident population for the United States, states and counties, 1 July (Population Estimates Program). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

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 population using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"population","level":"province","within":"South Dakota","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=population&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 population?

Minnehaha County, with 203,516 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest population?

Jones County, with 872 in 2022.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for the United States, states and counties, 1 July (Population Estimates Program). Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Population: other rankings

Counties in South Dakota: more rankings