Brown County, South Dakota

Brown County, South Dakota
Brown County Courthouse in January 2015
Location in the U.S. state of South Dakota
South Dakota's location in the U.S.
Founded	July 6, 1881[1]
Seat	Aberdeen
Largest city	Aberdeen
Area
• Total	1,731 sq mi (4,483 km2)
• Land	1,713 sq mi (4,437 km2)
• Water	18 sq mi (47 km2), 1.0%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	38,785
• Density	21/sq mi (8/km²)
Congressional district	At-large
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.brown.sd.us

Brown County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2010 census, the population was 36,531,^[2] making it the fourth-most populous county in South Dakota. Its county seat is Aberdeen.^[3] The county is named after Alfred Brown, of Hutchinson County, South Dakota, a Dakota Territory legislator in 1879.^[1][4]

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

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,731 square miles (4,480 km²), of which 1,713 square miles (4,440 km²) is land and 18 square miles (47 km²) (1.0%) is water.^[5]

Major highways

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

Adjacent counties

National protected area

• Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Demographics

2000 census

As of the census^[11] of 2000, there were 35,460 people, 14,638 households, and 9,324 families residing in the county. The population density was 21 people per square mile (8/km²). There were 15,861 housing units at an average density of 9 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.47% White, 0.28% Black or African American, 2.72% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 0.18% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. 0.67% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 55.0% were of German and 12.7% of Norwegian ancestry.

There were 14,638 households out of which 29.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.80% were married couples living together, 7.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.30% were non-families. 30.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the county, the population was spread out with 23.60% under the age of 18, 11.60% from 18 to 24, 26.70% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 16.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,017, and the median income for a family was $44,788. Males had a median income of $29,592 versus $20,445 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,464. About 7.00% of families and 9.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.30% of those under age 18 and 10.30% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 36,531 people, 15,489 households, and 9,374 families residing in the county.^[12] The population density was 21.3 inhabitants per square mile (8.2/km²). There were 16,706 housing units at an average density of 9.8 per square mile (3.8/km²).^[13] The racial makeup of the county was 93.2% white, 3.0% American Indian, 1.0% Asian, 0.5% black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.4% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.4% of the population.^[12] In terms of ancestry,^[14]

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.^[12]

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 poverty line, including 9.6% of those under age 18 and 15.4% of those age 65 or over.^[15]

Politics

Brown County was long a Democratic stronghold, home to notable Democrats like Governor Ralph Herseth, U.S. 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 it has trended somewhat Republican, particularly at the local level, although the county was carried by Barack Obama in 2008.

Communities

Cities

• Aberdeen (county seat)
• Columbia
• Groton

Towns

Census-designated places

• Bath
• Bath Corner
• Ferney
• Mansfield (partial)

Unincorporated communities

Townships

The county is divided into forty-four townships:

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Brown County, South Dakota

External links

• Brown County, SD government website

References

	McPherson County	Dickey County, North Dakota	Sargent County, North Dakota
			Marshall County
		Brown County, South Dakota
	Edmunds County and Faulk County	Spink County	Day County

Municipalities and communities of Brown County, South Dakota, United States
County seat: Aberdeen
Cities	Aberdeen Columbia Groton
Towns	Claremont Frederick Hecla Stratford Verdon Warner Westport
CDPs	Bath Bath Corner Ferney Mansfield‡
Other unincorporated communities	Barnard Houghton Huffton Ordway Putney Randolph Rudolph Tacoma Park
Townships	Aberdeen Allison Bates Bath Brainard Cambria Carlisle Claremont Columbia East Hanson East Rondell Franklyn Frederick Garden Prairie Garland Gem Greenfield Groton Hecla Henry Highland Lansing Liberty Lincoln Mercier New Hope North Detroit Oneota Ordway Osceola Palmyra Portage Prairiewood Putney Ravinia Richland Riverside Savo Shelby South Detroit Warner West Hanson Westport West Rondell
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

State of South Dakota
Pierre (capital)
Topics	Cities Delegations Famous South Dakotans Geography Government History Timeline Towns & Villages Townships Transportation State Parks Symbols Universities Visitor attractions
Society	Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics
Regions	Badlands Black Hills Coteau des Prairies Coteau du Missouri Dissected Till Plains Drift Prairie East River Pine Ridge Siouxland West River
Larger cities pop. over 5,000	Aberdeen Belle Fourche Box Elder Brandon Brookings Harrisburg Huron Madison Mitchell Pierre Rapid City Sioux Falls Spearfish Sturgis Vermillion Watertown Yankton
Smaller cities pop. 1,000 - 5,000	Baltic Beresford Britton Canton Chamberlain Clark Clear Lake Crooks Custer De Smet Deadwood Dell Rapids Eagle Butte Elk Point Flandreau Fort Pierre Freeman Garretson Gettysburg Gregory Groton Hartford Hot Springs Lead Lemmon Lennox Martin Milbank Miller Mission Mobridge North Sioux City Parkston Platte Redfield Salem Sisseton Springfield Summerset Tea Tyndall Volga Wagner Webster Winner
Largest CDPs pop. over 1,000	Blackhawk Colonial Pine Hills Dakota Dunes Fort Thompson North Eagle Butte North Spearfish Oglala Pine Ridge Porcupine Rapid Valley Rosebud
Largest towns pop. over 500	Aurora Humboldt St. Francis Wall
Counties	Aurora Beadle Bennett Bon Homme Brookings Brown Brule Buffalo Butte Campbell Charles Mix Clark Clay Codington Corson Custer Davison Day Deuel Dewey Douglas Edmunds Fall River Faulk Grant Gregory Haakon Hamlin Hand Hanson Harding Hughes Hutchinson Hyde Jackson Jerauld Jones Kingsbury Lake Lawrence Lincoln Lyman Marshall McCook McPherson Meade Mellette Miner Minnehaha Moody Oglala Lakota Pennington Perkins Potter Roberts Sanborn Spink Stanley Sully Todd Tripp Turner Union Walworth Yankton Ziebach

Coordinates: 45°36′N 98°21′W / 45.60°N 98.35°W / 45.60; -98.35