Jones 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 917, making it the least populous county in South Dakota. 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 ...

is Murdo. Created in 1916 and organized in 1917, it is the most recently established county in South Dakota. It was named after Granville Whittington Jones, an Arkansas-born clergyman/lawyer, who moved to Chamberlain, SD and became a noted Chautauqua speaker.

Geography

The terrain of Jones County consists of semi-arid rolling hills, partially devoted to agriculture. The Bad River flows north easterly through the northwest corner of the county, and the White River forms the county's southern boundary. The southern areas of the county are carved with gullies and drainages flowing to the White River. The terrain generally slopes to the northeast, and its highest point is on the lower western boundary, at ASL. 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 (0.1%) is water. It is the _th largest county in South Dakota by total area. The eastern portion of South Dakota's counties (48 of 66) observe Central Time; the western counties (18 of 66) observe

Mountain Time The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The clo ...

. Jones County is one of the SD counties to observe Central Time.

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 ...

* U.S. Highway 83

Adjacent counties

* Stanley County - north * Lyman County - east * Mellette County - south * Jackson County - southwest (observes

) * Haakon County - northwest (observes Mountain Time)

Protected area

* Buxcel State Game Production Area *

Fort Pierre National Grassland Fort Pierre National Grassland is a United States National Grassland in central South Dakota, south of the capital city Pierre and its neighbor Fort Pierre. The national grassland is primarily a mixed-grass prairie and has a land area of . In d ...

(part)

Lakes

* Sheriff Reservoir

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 917 people, 399 households, and 245 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 504 housing units.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 1,006 people, 458 households, and 280 families in the county. The population density was . There were 589 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.6% white, 2.0% American Indian, 0.4% Pacific islander, 0.1% black or African American, 0.0% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.3% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 48.8% 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 ...

, 15.9% were Irish, 10.2% were Norwegian, 9.0% were

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

, and 1.9% were

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. In terms of ancestry in 2016, 39.1% were of

, 14.3% were of Irish, 13.9% were of Norwegian, 11.4% were of

, 6.4% were of English, 6.2 were of French. Of the 458 households, 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.7% were married couples living together, 5.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 38.9% were non-families, and 35.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.86. The median age was 46.9 years. The median income for a household in the county was $49,464 and the median income for a family was $56,589. Males had a median income of $33,021 versus $27,115 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,630. About 6.6% of families and 9.1% 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 16.7% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

City

* Murdo (county seat)

Town

Draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

Census-designated place

* Okaton

Unincorporated community

* Capa

Townships

* Buffalo * Draper * Dunkel * Grandview * Kolls * Morga * Mullen * Mussman * Okaton * Scovil * South Creek * Williams Creek * Zickrick

Unorganized territories

* Central Jones * North Jones * Rich Valley * Westover

Politics

Jones County voters have been reliably Republican. The last Democrat to carry Jones County in a Presidential election was

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

in 1964, and

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

in 1976 was the last to top one third of the county's ballots. Even before the Democratic Party turned towards its modern liberalism, Jones County did not vote for any Democrat except LBJ and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936 – and in the latter election when Roosevelt won 46 of 48 states he beat

Alf Landon Alfred Mossman Landon (September 9, 1887October 12, 1987) was an American oilman and politician who served as the 26th governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937. A member of the Republican Party, he was the party's nominee in the 1936 presidential ...

in Jones County by just twelve votes.

References

{{Authority control 1917 establishments in South Dakota Populated places established in 1917