Brown 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 of

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 38,301, making it the fourth most populous county in South Dakota, and was estimated to be 37,495 in 2024. 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 ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. The county is named for Alfred Brown, of Hutchinson County, South Dakota, a Dakota Territory

legislator A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-nat ...

in 1879. Brown County is part of the Aberdeen, SD Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Brown County lies on the north side of South Dakota. Its north boundary line abuts the south boundary line of the state of

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. 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 south-southwest through the county; its entry point into neighboring Spink County marks Brown County's lowest elevation: ASL. The terrain of Brown County consists of rolling terrain, sloping to the south and east, largely devoted to agriculture. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.0%) is water. It is the 13th largest county in South Dakota by total area.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 12 * U.S. Highway 281 * South Dakota Highway 10 * South Dakota Highway 37

Adjacent counties

* Dickey County, North Dakota - north *

Sargent County, North Dakota Sargent County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. Its county seat is Forman, North Dakota, Forman, and its most populous city is Gwinner, North Dakota, Gwinner. The county is named in honor of Homer E. Sargen ...

- northeast * Marshall County - east * Day County - southeast * Spink County - south * Faulk County - southwest * Edmunds County - southwest * McPherson County - northwest

Protected areas

* Bodi State Game Production Area (part) * Casanova State Game Production Area * Columbia State Game Production Area * Cutler State Game Production Area * Diagonal Trees State Game Production Area * Elm Creek State Game Production Area (part) * Erickson State Game Production Area * Hansen Preserve State Game Production Area * Hart Quarter State Game Production Area * Hecla State Game Production Area * Jilek-Dahme State Game Production Area * Pigors Lake State Game Production Area * Putney Slough State Game Production Area * Putney State Game Production Area * Renziehausen Slough State Game Bird Refuge * Renziehausen State Game Production Area (part) * Richmond Dam State Game Production Area * Richmond Lake State Recreation Area * Richmond State Lakeside Use Area * Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge * Zabrasha State Game Production Area

Demographics

As of the third quarter of 2024, the median home value in Brown County was $221,040. As of the 2023

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, there are 16,364 estimated households in Brown County with an average of 2.26 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $70,239. Approximately 10.0% of the county's population lives at or 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 ...

. Brown County has an estimated 70.0% employment rate, with 33.2% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 93.7% holding a high school diploma. The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (93.8%), Spanish (2.7%), Indo-European (1.0%), Asian and Pacific Islander (2.1%), and Other (0.5%). The median age in the county was 37.8 years. Brown County, South Dakota – racial and ethnic composition

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 38,301 people, 16,130 households, and 9,595 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 17,885 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 86.41%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.48%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 3.13% Native American, 2.41% Asian, 0.12%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.83% from some other races and 4.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 4.33% of the population.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 36,531 people, 15,489 households, and 9,374 families in the county. The population density was . There were 16,706 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 93.23%

, 0.53%

, 3.02% Native American, 0.97% Asian, 0.11%

, 0.41% from some other races and 1.72% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.36% of the population. Of the 15,489 households, 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.5% were married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 39.5% were non-families, and 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age was 38.6 years. The median income for a household in the county was $45,615 and the median income for a family was $58,683. Males had a median income of $37,997 versus $28,419 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,878. About 5.6% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the

, including 9.6% of those under age 18 and 15.4% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Brown County was long a Democratic stronghold, home to notable Democrats including South Dakota Governor Ralph Herseth, US Senate majority leader Tom Daschle and Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. It generally voted Democratic except in Republican landslides (though often relatively narrowly margins) in presidential elections from 1932 until 1996. Since then, Brown County has trended Republican, particularly at the local level, although the county was carried by

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in 2008.

Communities

Cities

(county seat) * Columbia * Groton

Towns

* Claremont * Frederick * Hecla * Stratford * Verdon * Warner * Westport

Census-designated places

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

* Bath Corner * Ferney * Hutterville Colony *

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

(partial) * Prairiewood Village

Unincorporated communities

Barnard Barnard is a surname of Old English origin, derived from the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon given name "Beornheard". It is composed of two elements: "Beorn," meaning "young warrior" or "bear," and "heard," meaning "hardy," "brave," or "strong." In some ...

* Houghton * Huffton * James * Nahon * Ordway * Putney * Richmond * Richmond Heights * Rudolph * Tacoma Park * Winship''Winship SD'' Google Maps (accessed January 30, 2019)
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Townships

* Allison * Bates * Bath * Barnard * Cambria * Carlisle * Claremont * Columbia * East Hanson * East Rondell * Franklyn * Frederick * Garden Prairie * Garland * Gem * Greenfield * Groton * Hecla * Henry * Highland * Lansing *

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

* Lincoln * Mercier * New Hope * North Detroit * Oneota * Ordway * Osceola * Palmyra * Portage * Prairiewood * Putney * Ravinia * Richland * Riverside * Savo * Shelby * South Detroit * Warner * West Hanson * West * Westport

External links

Brown County, SD government website

References

{{authority control 1881 establishments in Dakota Territory Populated places established in 1881 Aberdeen, South Dakota micropolitan area