The largest county in South Dakota
There are two right answers. By land area it is Meade County; by population it is Minnehaha County. Which one you want depends on what you meant by largest.
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. Retrieved 30 August 2026.
By land area
| Rank | Name | Land area | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meade County | 3,471 sq mi | 30,711 |
| 2 | Perkins County | 2,870 sq mi | 2,853 |
| 3 | Pennington County | 2,777 sq mi | 116,792 |
| 4 | Harding County | 2,672 sq mi | 1,331 |
| 5 | Corson County | 2,470 sq mi | 3,781 |
| 6 | Dewey County | 2,302 sq mi | 5,419 |
| 7 | Butte County | 2,250 sq mi | 10,856 |
| 8 | Oglala Lakota County | 2,094 sq mi | 13,338 |
| 9 | Ziebach County | 1,961 sq mi | 2,389 |
| 10 | Jackson County | 1,864 sq mi | 2,666 |
By population
| Rank | Name | Population | Density |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnehaha County | 212,691 | 264 per sq mi |
| 2 | Pennington County | 116,792 | 42.1 per sq mi |
| 3 | Lincoln County | 77,145 | 134 per sq mi |
| 4 | Brookings County | 37,635 | 47.5 per sq mi |
| 5 | Brown County | 37,561 | 21.9 per sq mi |
| 6 | Meade County | 30,711 | 8.9 per sq mi |
| 7 | Codington County | 29,562 | 43.0 per sq mi |
| 8 | Lawrence County | 29,459 | 36.8 per sq mi |
| 9 | Yankton County | 23,635 | 45.3 per sq mi |
| 10 | Davison County | 20,069 | 46.1 per sq mi |
And the smallest
More on South Dakota
Rebuilt from source data 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.