Perkins County, South Dakota

Perkins County
Perkins County
County
	Petrified Wood Park in Lemmon, South Dakota
	Location within the U.S. state of South Dakota
	South Dakota's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 45°30′N 102°29′W / 45.5°N 102.48°W
Country	United States
State	South Dakota
Founded	November 3, 1908 (established); 1909 (organized)
Named for	Henry E. Perkins
Seat	Bison
Largest city	Lemmon
Area
• Total	2,891 sq mi (7,490 km2)
• Land	2,870 sq mi (7,400 km2)
• Water	20 sq mi (50 km2) 0.7%
Population (2020)
• Total	2,835
• Estimate (2023)	2,834
• Density	0.98/sq mi (0.38/km2)
Time zone	UTC−7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
Congressional district	At-large
Website	www.perkinscounty.org

Perkins County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,835.^[1] Its county seat is Bison.^[2] The county was established in 1908 and organized in 1909.^[3] It was named for Sturgis, South Dakota, official Henry E. Perkins.^[4]

Geography

Perkins County lies on the north edge of South Dakota. Its north boundary line abuts the south boundary line of the state of North Dakota. The Grand River flows eastward through the upper part of the county, and the Moreau River flows eastward through the lower part of the county. Shadehill Reservoir is a large impoundment on the Grand River in the county.

Perkins County terrain consists of semi-arid rolling hills, carved by drainage creeks, sparsely dedicated to agriculture.^[5] The terrain slopes to the east; its highest point is on its lower west boundary line, at 3,097 ft (944 m) ASL.^[6] The county has a total area of 2,890 square miles (7,500 km²), of which 2,870 square miles (7,400 km²) is land and 20 square miles (52 km²) (0.7%) is water.^[7] It is the second-largest county by area in South Dakota. Meade County is the state's largest county by area.

Perkins County came to media attention in 2009 when Stephen Von Worley calculated that it was the site of the "McFarthest Spot" — the point in the continental United States that is most distant from a McDonald's restaurant: 107 mi (172 km) as the crow flies and 145 mi (233 km) by car. However, it was updated in 2010 and the spot was updated to the middle of the Nevada Desert.^[8]^[9]^[10]

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Adams County, North Dakota - north
Corson County - east
Ziebach County - southeast
Meade County - south
Butte County - southwest
Harding County - west

Protected areas^[5]

Grand River National Grassland (part)^[11]
Hugh Glass State Lakeside Use Area
Lemmon Lake State Game Production Area
Llewellyn Johns State Recreation Area
Owens Lake State Game Production Area
Shadehill State Game Production Area
Shadehill State Recreation Area
Sorum Dam State Game Production Area
Vobejda Dam State Game Production Area

Lakes^[5]

Flat Creek Lake
Lemmon Lake
Owens Lake
Shadehill Reservoir
Sorum Dam
Vobejda Dam

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1910	11,348		—
1920	7,993		−29.6%
1930	8,717		9.1%
1940	6,585		−24.5%
1950	6,776		2.9%
1960	5,977		−11.8%
1970	4,769		−20.2%
1980	4,700		−1.4%
1990	3,932		−16.3%
2000	3,363		−14.5%
2010	2,982		−11.3%
2020	2,835		−4.9%
2023 (est.)	2,834	^[12]	0.0%
U.S. Decennial Census^[13] 1790-1960^[14] 1900-1990^[15] 1990-2000^[16] 2010-2020^[1]

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 2,835 people, 1,257 households, and 784 families residing in the county.^[17] The population density was 1.0 inhabitant per square mile (0.39/km²). There were 1,710 housing units.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 2,982 people, 1,291 households, and 838 families in the county. The population density was 1.0 inhabitant per square mile (0.39/km²). There were 1,739 housing units at an average density of 0.6 units per square mile (0.23 units/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.9% white, 1.3% American Indian, 0.1% black or African American, 0.1% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.7% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 47.4% were German, 26.2% were Norwegian, 10.8% were English, 8.7% were Irish, 8.4% were Swedish, and 5.8% were American.

Of the 1,291 households, 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.2% were married couples living together, 4.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.1% were non-families, and 32.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.85. The median age was 48.5 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $33,361 and the median income for a family was $55,313. Males had a median income of $30,255 versus $27,361 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,780. About 11.2% of families and 18.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.6% of those under age 18 and 21.2% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Lemmon

Town

Bison (county seat)

Census-designated place

Prairie City

Unincorporated Communities

Ghost Towns

Townships

Ada
Anderson
Antelope
Barrett
Beck-Highland
Bison
Brushy
Burdick
Cash
Castle Butte
Chance
Chaudoin
Clark
De Witt
Duell
Englewood
Flat Creek
Foster
Fredlund
Glendo
Grand River
Hall
Horse Creek
Liberty
Lincoln
Lemmon
Lodgepole
Lone Tree
Maltby
Marshfield
Martin
Meadow
Moreau
Plateau
Rainbow
Rockford
Scotch Cap
Sidney
Strool
Trail
Vail
Vickers
Viking
Vrooman
Wells
White Butte
White Hill
Wilson
Wyandotte

Unorganized territories

Duck Creek
East Perkins
Independence
Pleasant Valley
South Perkins
Southwest Perkins
West Central Perkins
West Perkins

Politics

Like most of South Dakota, Perkins County is overwhelmingly Republican. No Democratic presidential candidate has won Perkins County since Franklin D. Roosevelt did so during his 46-state landslide in 1936. Jimmy Carter in 1976 came within 36 votes of carrying the county, but since then the only Democrat to gain even 29 percent of the county's vote has been Michael Dukakis during the drought-affected 1988 election.

United States presidential election results for Perkins County, South Dakota^[18]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	1,401	83.94%	239	14.32%	29	1.74%
2016	1,333	83.00%	188	11.71%	85	5.29%
2012	1,205	75.79%	319	20.06%	66	4.15%
2008	1,102	65.36%	499	29.60%	85	5.04%
2004	1,329	73.30%	418	23.06%	66	3.64%
2000	1,237	76.64%	297	18.40%	80	4.96%
1996	983	58.10%	460	27.19%	249	14.72%
1992	872	43.80%	566	28.43%	553	27.77%
1988	1,326	60.36%	851	38.73%	20	0.91%
1984	1,686	69.93%	714	29.61%	11	0.46%
1980	1,931	72.73%	595	22.41%	129	4.86%
1976	1,298	50.08%	1,262	48.69%	32	1.23%
1972	1,691	65.09%	900	34.64%	7	0.27%
1968	1,498	60.38%	869	35.03%	114	4.59%
1964	1,409	52.89%	1,255	47.11%	0	0.00%
1960	1,767	60.29%	1,164	39.71%	0	0.00%
1956	1,743	59.41%	1,191	40.59%	0	0.00%
1952	2,160	71.78%	849	28.22%	0	0.00%
1948	1,424	55.04%	1,096	42.37%	67	2.59%
1944	1,325	57.11%	995	42.89%	0	0.00%
1940	1,777	57.36%	1,321	42.64%	0	0.00%
1936	1,408	41.11%	1,940	56.64%	77	2.25%
1932	1,406	40.90%	1,852	53.87%	180	5.24%
1928	2,262	68.57%	1,010	30.62%	27	0.82%
1924	1,421	59.21%	277	11.54%	702	29.25%
1920	1,326	60.41%	417	19.00%	452	20.59%
1916	890	45.41%	939	47.91%	131	6.68%
1912	0	0.00%	832	39.60%	1,269	60.40%