County Maps US

Custer County, South Dakota

A county in South Dakota, ranked 19 of 66 by population.

CountyFIPS 46033

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

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Population
9,431
+1,098 (+13.2%) since 2020
Land area
1,557
square miles. A further 0.1% of the total area is water
Population density
6.1
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Custer
Seat of county government.
Established
1875
150 years ago
Largest city
Custer city
Population 1,803.

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 Custer 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 Custer 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 360 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 Custer 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
Population9,43119th of 662,452nd of 3,144
Land area1,557 sq mi16th of 66388th of 3,144
Population density6.1 per sq mi33rd of 662,725th of 3,144
Median household income$84,1126th of 66449th of 3,143

Full data for Custer County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population9,431Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 20208,333Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?8,319Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area1,557 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area2.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area1,559 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?6.1 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$84,112American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$372,100American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age57.6American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households4,451American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units5,291American 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
-35
57 births, 92 deaths
Net migration
+143
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 5 areas bordering Custer 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
Pennington CountySouth Dakota85 mi116,792
Fall River CountySouth Dakota53 mi7,467
Oglala Lakota CountySouth Dakota26 mi13,338
Weston CountyWyoming24 mi6,840
Niobrara CountyWyoming1.8 mi2,341

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.