County facts · Land area · October 22, 2026
Largest Counties in South Dakota by Area and Population
The largest South Dakota counties by land area and by 2023 population, plus the smallest, county seats and a link to each official parcel map.
Looking for the largest counties in South Dakota? South Dakota has 66 counties covering about 75,810 square miles of land, based on the Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer. The largest by land area is Meade County, at about 3,471 square miles, roughly 8.4 times the size of the smallest, Clay County (412 sq mi). Measured by people instead, the largest is Minnehaha County, with about 206,930 residents in the Census Bureau's July 1, 2023 estimate.
The tables below rank the counties both ways. Each row links to the county's Platbookmapper page and straight to its official parcel viewer.
South Dakota counties at a glance
- Counties: 66
- Land area: about 75,810 sq mi, plus about 1,306 sq mi of water inside county lines
- Residents, 2023 estimates: about 919,318, or about 12 people per square mile of land
- Median county land area: about 909 sq mi
- With a verified public parcel viewer in our directory: 63 of 66
The 10 largest South Dakota counties by land area
| # | County | Seat | Land (sq mi) | 2023 pop. | People per sq mi | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meade County | Sturgis | 3,471 | 30,954 | 8.9 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| 2 | Perkins County | Bison | 2,870 | 2,834 | 1.0 | CAMAvision Maps |
| 3 | Pennington County | Rapid City | 2,777 | 115,903 | 42 | county web map |
| 4 | Harding County | Buffalo | 2,672 | 1,324 | 0.5 | CAMAvision Maps |
| 5 | Corson County | McIntosh | 2,470 | 3,782 | 1.5 | CAMAvision Maps |
| 6 | Dewey County | Timber Lake | 2,302 | 5,208 | 2.3 | CAMAvision Maps |
| 7 | Butte County | Belle Fourche | 2,250 | 10,863 | 4.8 | planning-district WebGIS |
| 8 | Oglala Lakota County | Hot Springs | 2,094 | 13,434 | 6.4 | CAMAvision Maps |
| 9 | Ziebach County | Dupree | 1,961 | 2,322 | 1.2 | planning-district WebGIS |
| 10 | Jackson County | Kadoka | 1,864 | 2,776 | 1.5 | planning-district WebGIS |
Together these 10 cover about 33% of South Dakota's land area and hold about 21% of its residents.
The 10 most populous South Dakota counties
| # | County | Seat | 2023 pop. | Land (sq mi) | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnehaha County | Sioux Falls | 206,930 | 807 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| 2 | Pennington County | Rapid City | 115,903 | 2,777 | county web map |
| 3 | Lincoln County | Canton | 73,238 | 577 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| 4 | Brown County | Aberdeen | 37,733 | 1,713 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| 5 | Brookings County | Brookings | 35,980 | 792 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| 6 | Meade County | Sturgis | 30,954 | 3,471 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| 7 | Codington County | Watertown | 28,971 | 688 | planning-district WebGIS |
| 8 | Lawrence County | Deadwood | 28,053 | 800 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| 9 | Yankton County | Yankton | 23,517 | 521 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| 10 | Davison County | Mitchell | 19,922 | 436 | planning-district WebGIS |
These 10 hold about 65% of South Dakota's residents in the 2023 estimates.
The 5 smallest South Dakota counties by land area
| County | Seat | Land (sq mi) | 2023 pop. | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clay County | Vermillion | 412 | 15,431 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| Douglas County | Armour | 432 | 2,838 | planning-district WebGIS |
| Hanson County | Alexandria | 435 | 3,471 | planning-district WebGIS |
| Davison County | Mitchell | 436 | 19,922 | planning-district WebGIS |
| Union County | Elk Point | 461 | 17,183 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
Most and least crowded
- Most people per square mile: Minnehaha County, about 256 (then Lincoln County, 127, and Davison County, 46)
- Fewest people per square mile: Harding County, about 0.5 (then Jones County, 0.9, and Perkins County, 1.0)
Counties with the most water
The Census Bureau reports water separately from land. It counts lakes, reservoirs, rivers and, along a coast or a Great Lake, the water inside the boundary.
- Dewey County: about 143 sq mi of water, 6% of its total area
- Stanley County: about 73 sq mi of water, 5% of its total area
- Lyman County: about 65 sq mi of water, 4% of its total area
Using these numbers in a land search
- Land area is not parcel count. A large rural county can hold fewer parcels than a small suburban one, so size alone says little about how busy its parcel map is.
- Search, don't scroll. In a big county, type an address, owner name or parcel number into the viewer's search box, where it has one, instead of panning across the map.
- Records follow the county line. Deeds, plats and tax bills are kept by the county where the parcel sits, so a tract that crosses a county line usually has a parcel number on each side.
- Rounded figures. Land and water areas are rounded to whole square miles (one decimal for very small places). People per square mile is the 2023 estimate divided by land area.
Related guides
- South Dakota county GIS websites by viewer
- South Dakota landowner maps for hunting
- Minnesota–South Dakota border counties
- Nebraska–South Dakota border counties
- Largest county in each state
- Largest counties in the US by land area
More: All South Dakota counties on Platbookmapper
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau Gazetteer files, 2020 county land and water area.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, county totals, Vintage 2023 (July 1, 2023 estimates)
- Platbookmapper county GIS directory (live data file behind our county pages, pulled October 22, 2026) for each official parcel viewer.
- County seats: Wikidata (county seat property), cross-checked against Census place names.