Hanson County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,461. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. The county was founded in 1871 and organized in 1873. It was named for Joseph R. Hanson, clerk of the first legislature. Hanson County is part of the Mitchell, SD Micropolitan Statistical Area. The county is somewhat unique among those in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in that there are no officially registered airports within the county borders.

Geography

The terrain of Hanson County consists of low rolling hills; its area is mostly devoted to agriculture. The

James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...

flows southeastward through the lower western part of the county. The terrain slopes toward the river basin on both sides, and generally gently slopes to the south. According to the

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, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. It is the 64th largest county in South Dakota by total area.

Major highways

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

South Dakota Highway 25 South Dakota Highway 25 (SD 25) is a state highway in the eastern part of the U.S. state of South Dakota. It connects Scotland, Howard, De Smet, and Webster. It consists of two disconnected segments. Its shorter southern segment ...

* South Dakota Highway 38 * South Dakota Highway 42 *

South Dakota Highway 262 South Dakota Highway 262 (SD 262) is a state highway in the U.S. state of South Dakota that runs from Interstate 90 (I-90) near Alexandria to SD 42 in Bridgewater. It is maintained by the South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT). ...

Adjacent counties

* Miner County - north * McCook County - east * Hutchinson County - south * Davison County - west * Sanborn County - northwest

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 3,461 people, 1,146 households, and 855 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 1,279 housing units.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 3,331 people, 1,045 households, and 793 families in the county. The population density was . There were 1,177 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.6% white, 0.3% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.2% from other races, and 0.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 63.7% were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 10.8% were Irish, 6.2% were English, 5.2% were Norwegian, and 4.0% were American. Of the 1,045 households, 35.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.8% were married couples living together, 3.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 24.1% were non-families, and 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.14. The median age was 35.5 years. The median income for a household in the county was $46,556 and the median income for a family was $52,425. Males had a median income of $38,088 versus $23,750 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,391. About 13.8% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 13.6% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over. Hanson County was mentioned as an "Extreme Whitopia" in Rich Benjamin's book, '' Searching for Whitopia''.

Communities

Cities

(county seat) * Emery

Towns

Farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

* Fulton

Religious communities

* Millbrook Colony * Oak Lane Colony * Rockport Colony * Rosedale Colony

Unincorporated community

* Epiphany, partial

Government

Townships

*Beulah *Edgerton *Emery *Fairview *Hanson *Jasper *Plano *Rosedale *Springlake *Taylor *Wayne *Worthen

Politics

Hanson County voters tend to vote Republican. Since 1936, they have selected the Republican Party candidate in 65% of national elections.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1873 establishments in Dakota Territory Mitchell, South Dakota micropolitan area Populated places established in 1873