Hand County, South Dakota facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hand County
U.S. county
Location within the U.S. state of South Dakota
South Dakota's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	South Dakota
Founded	1873 (created) 1882 (redrawn) 1882 (organized)
Named for	George A. Hand
Seat	Miller
Largest city	Miller
Area
• Total	1,440 sq mi (3,700 km2)
• Land	1,437 sq mi (3,720 km2)
• Water	3.6 sq mi (9 km2)  0.2%
Population  (2020)
• Total	3,145
• Estimate  (2021)	3,095
• Density	2.184/sq mi (0.8433/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	At-large

Hand County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,145. Its county seat is Miller.

History

Hand County and its towns and villages in 1892

Hand County was named for George A. Hand, territorial secretary. It was created in 1873 by the Dakota territorial legislature. The boundaries were finalized in 1882, the year it was organized.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,440 square miles (3,700 km²), of which 1,437 square miles (3,720 km²) is land and 3.6 square miles (9.3 km²) (0.2%) is water.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 14
• U.S. Highway 212
• South Dakota Highway 26
• South Dakota Highway 45

Adjacent counties

• Faulk County, South Dakota - north
• Spink County, South Dakota - northeast
• Beadle County, South Dakota - east
• Jerauld County, South Dakota - southeast
• Buffalo County, South Dakota - southwest
• Hyde County, South Dakota - west

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 3,431 people, 1,494 households, and 972 families residing in the county. The population density was 2.4 inhabitants per square mile (0.93/km²). There were 1,815 housing units at an average density of 1.3 per square mile (0.50/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.4% white, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% black or African American, 0.2% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.6% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 57.3% were German, 15.3% were Irish, 9.0% were Norwegian, 8.1% were English, 6.1% were Dutch, and 3.4% were American.

Of the 1,494 households, 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.6% were married couples living together, 5.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.9% were non-families, and 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.84. The median age was 48.2 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $45,895 and the median income for a family was $52,407. Males had a median income of $40,725 versus $24,844 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,238. About 11.4% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 16.5% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

• Miller (county seat)
• Wessington (partial)

Towns

• Ree Heights
• St. Lawrence

Unincorporated communities

• Polo
• Vayland

Townships

The county is divided into forty townships:

Unorganized territory

The county contains one area of unorganized territory: Northwest Hand.

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Hand para niños