County Maps US

Brookings County, South Dakota

A county in South Dakota, ranked 4 of 66 by population.

CountyFIPS 46011

Within South Dakota
Brookings County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Brookings, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
37,635
+3,297 (+9.6%) since 2020
Land area
792.2
square miles. A further 1.6% of the total area is water
Population density
47.5
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Brookings
Seat of county government.
Established
1871
154 years ago
Largest city
Brookings city
Population 25,355.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Brookings County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Brookings County, South Dakota from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 599 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Brookings County ranks

Position among the 66 counties of South Dakota, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn South DakotaNationally
Population37,6354th of 661,252nd of 3,144
Land area792.2 sq mi42nd of 661,083rd of 3,144
Population density47.5 per sq mi3rd of 661,526th of 3,144
Median household income$70,06439th of 661,196th of 3,143

Full data for Brookings County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population37,635Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202034,338Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?34,364Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area792.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area12.7 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area804.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?47.5 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$70,064American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$264,600American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age28.0American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households13,798American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units15,179American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+194
401 births, 207 deaths
Net migration
+622
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 7 areas bordering Brookings County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Lincoln CountyMinnesota24 mi5,583
Kingsbury CountySouth Dakota24 mi5,284
Moody CountySouth Dakota22 mi6,632
Deuel CountySouth Dakota21 mi4,408
Hamlin CountySouth Dakota12 mi6,900
Lake CountySouth Dakota12 mi10,993
Pipestone CountyMinnesotaa single point9,260

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 66 counties of South Dakota

Open the interactive South Dakota county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.