Hand County, South Dakota

A county in South Dakota, ranked 46 of 66 by population.

CountyFIPS 46059

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

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Population
3,121
-23 (-0.7%) since 2020
Land area
1,437
square miles. A further 0.2% of the total area is water
Population density
2.2
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Miller
Seat of county government.
Established
1873
152 years ago
Largest city
Miller city
Population 1,313.

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 Hand 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 Hand 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 529 by 800 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 Hand 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
Population3,12146th of 662,951st of 3,144
Land area1,437 sq mi19th of 66417th of 3,144
Population density2.2 per sq mi53rd of 662,968th of 3,144
Median household income$74,63523rd of 66862nd of 3,143

Full data for Hand County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population3,121Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 20203,144Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?3,145Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area1,437 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area3.6 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area1,440 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?2.2 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$74,635American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$159,300American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age42.5American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households1,405American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units1,719American 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
-1
46 births, 47 deaths
Net migration
+4
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 6 areas bordering Hand 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
Hyde CountySouth Dakota49 mi1,191
Beadle CountySouth Dakota30 mi19,624
Faulk CountySouth Dakota29 mi2,178
Buffalo CountySouth Dakota19 mi1,802
Spink CountySouth Dakota19 mi6,155
Jerauld CountySouth Dakota11 mi1,654

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.