Brown County, South Dakota

Brown County population, land area and income

Brown County had 37,495 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 1,713.0 square miles of land. It ranks 4th of 66 in South Dakota by population and 13th by land area. That works out to 21.9 people per square mile, below the US average of 96.3, and below the national county median.

The median county-equivalent in South Dakota has 5,296 residents, so Brown County is 7.1 times that size.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $67,491 is above the national county median among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Brown County's population changed since 2020

Brown County lost 724 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a drop of 1.9%. That ranks 54th of 66 in South Dakota for growth. The median South Dakota county changed by +0.8%, and the state as a whole by +4.1%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Brown County recorded 1,668 births and 1,715 deaths, a natural change of -47. Net international migration added +196 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to -967. The largest single component was domestic migration, which removed 967 people.

Where Brown County is

The Census internal point of Brown County is at 45.589300, -98.352200. It sits in UTM zone 14N. The map shades South Dakota's 66 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Brown County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Brown County

2 incorporated places of 1,000+ people have residents in Brown County, 29,262 people together, or 78% of the county. Each figure counts only the part of the town inside Brown County; towns marked "part" extend into another county. The largest is Aberdeen with 27,919.

Counties bordering Brown County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 8 neighbors for Brown County, including 2 across a state line. The most populous is Spink County, SD, with 6,108 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• Spink County

  6,108 people

  46 mi S

• Day County

  5,408 people

  41 mi ESE

• ND

  Dickey County, ND

  4,930 people

  36 mi N

• Marshall County

  4,395 people

  39 mi ENE

• Edmunds County

  4,027 people

  43 mi WSW

• ND

  Sargent County, ND

  3,710 people

  50 mi NE

• McPherson County

  2,307 people

  44 mi WNW

• Faulk County

  2,136 people

  53 mi SW

Distance to Pierre and the nearest big city

Pierre is 128.9 miles SW of Brown County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Fargo, ND (population 136,285), 114.3 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Aberdeen, SD (population 27,919), 10.3 miles away.

Brown County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Brown County is 46013: state code 46 for South Dakota plus county code 013. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $67,491.