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McPherson County
McPherson County
County
	McPherson County Courthouse
	Location within the U.S. state of South Dakota
	South Dakota's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 45°46′N 99°13′W / 45.77°N 99.22°W
Country	United States
State	South Dakota
Founded	1873 (created); 1884 (organized)
Named for	James B. McPherson
Seat	Leola
Largest city	Eureka
Area
• Total	1,152 sq mi (2,980 km2)
• Land	1,137 sq mi (2,940 km2)
• Water	15 sq mi (40 km2) 1.3%
Population (2020)
• Total	2,411
• Estimate (2023)	2,334
• Density	2.1/sq mi (0.81/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	At-large
Website	mcpherson.sdcounties.org

McPherson County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,411.^[1] Its county seat is Leola.^[2]

History

The county was created in 1873 and organized in 1884.^[3] It is named for American Civil War General James B. McPherson.^[4]

Geography

McPherson County lies on the north line of South Dakota. The north boundary line of McPherson County abuts the south boundary line of the state of North Dakota. Its terrain consists of rolling hills, largely devoted to agriculture, and dotted with small lakes and ponds.^[5] The terrain generally slopes to the south and east.^[6] The county has a total area of 1,152 square miles (2,980 km²), of which 1,137 square miles (2,940 km²) is land and 15 square miles (39 km²) (1.3%) is water.^[7]

The Samuel H. Ordway Jr., Memorial Prairie, a 7,800-acre (3,200 ha) grassland owned by The Nature Conservancy on the south side of South Dakota Highway 10 about 10 miles (16 km) west of Leola, is home to a bison herd.^[8]^[9]

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Protected areas^[5]

Elm Lake State Game Production Area
Moscow State Game Production Area
Morlock State Game Production Area
North Jackson State Game Production Area
Odessa State Game Production Area
Pfeiffle-Neuharth State Game Production Area
Rath State Game Production Area
Rosenthal State Game Production Area
Schock State Game Production Area
Schumacher State Game Production Area
Simpson State Game Production Area
School State Game Production Area
South Jackson State Game Production Area
Stout State Game Production Area
Wageman State Game Production Area
Wolff State Game Production Area

Lakes^[5]

Crompton Lake
Elm Lake (partial)
Eureka Lake
Feinstein Lake
Hausauer Lake
Heufel Lake
Klooz Lake
Long Lake

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1890	5,940		—
1900	6,327		6.5%
1910	6,791		7.3%
1920	7,705		13.5%
1930	8,774		13.9%
1940	8,353		−4.8%
1950	7,071		−15.3%
1960	5,821		−17.7%
1970	5,022		−13.7%
1980	4,027		−19.8%
1990	3,228		−19.8%
2000	2,904		−10.0%
2010	2,459		−15.3%
2020	2,411		−2.0%
2023 (est.)	2,334	^[10]	−3.2%
U.S. Decennial Census^[11] 1790-1960^[12] 1900-1990^[13] 1990-2000^[14] 2010-2020^[1]

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 2,411 people, 940 households, and 580 families residing in the county.^[15] The population density was 2.1 inhabitants per square mile (0.81/km²). There were 1,258 housing units.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 2,459 people, 1,025 households, and 632 families in the county. The population density was 2.2 inhabitants per square mile (0.85/km²). There were 1,418 housing units at an average density of 1.2 units per square mile (0.46 units/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.2% white, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.2% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 74.5% were German, 17.7% were Russian, 7.3% were Norwegian, 6.7% were English, and 2.5% were American.

Of the 1,025 households, 19.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.1% were married couples living together, 4.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 38.3% were non-families, and 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.66. The median age was 50.8 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,923 and the median income for a family was $47,500. Males had a median income of $31,953 versus $27,941 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,255. About 12.5% of families and 16.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.3% of those under age 18 and 27.1% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Eureka
Leola (county seat)

Towns

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities^[5]

Greenway
Long Lake Colony
Madra (partial)

Townships

Politics

Except during the 1924, 1928 and 1932 elections when anti-Prohibition sentiment by the county's German Lutheran populace turned the county against Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, McPherson County has been among the most overwhelmingly Republican in the country. Apart from these anomalous elections, the free silver-influenced 1896 election, and the 1936 Democratic landslide in the aftermath of Prohibition, the best performance by any Democrat has been Barack Obama’s 32 percent in 2008. In 1968^[16] and 1980^[17] McPherson was among the five most Republican counties in the country, and in 1964 it was rivalled only by neighbouring Campbell County and the famous Republican bastions of Hooker County, Nebraska and Jackson County, Kentucky as Barry Goldwater’s best county outside the former Confederacy.

United States presidential election results for McPherson County, South Dakota^[18]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	1,087	83.68%	188	14.47%	24	1.85%
2020	1,075	81.19%	222	16.77%	27	2.04%
2016	892	78.45%	192	16.89%	53	4.66%
2012	921	75.80%	272	22.39%	22	1.81%
2008	915	66.55%	441	32.07%	19	1.38%
2004	1,180	74.73%	369	23.37%	30	1.90%
2000	1,073	75.72%	295	20.82%	49	3.46%
1996	1,080	62.25%	463	26.69%	192	11.07%
1992	945	53.94%	478	27.28%	329	18.78%
1988	1,358	70.14%	571	29.49%	7	0.36%
1984	1,813	81.08%	418	18.69%	5	0.22%
1980	2,056	85.60%	287	11.95%	59	2.46%
1976	1,662	70.22%	693	29.28%	12	0.51%
1972	1,950	76.92%	579	22.84%	6	0.24%
1968	2,105	80.34%	389	14.85%	126	4.81%
1964	1,891	72.34%	723	27.66%	0	0.00%
1960	2,354	79.26%	616	20.74%	0	0.00%
1956	2,225	77.85%	633	22.15%	0	0.00%
1952	2,915	86.99%	436	13.01%	0	0.00%
1948	2,034	76.24%	611	22.90%	23	0.86%
1944	2,290	84.81%	410	15.19%	0	0.00%
1940	2,839	77.46%	826	22.54%	0	0.00%
1936	1,921	54.81%	1,556	44.39%	28	0.80%
1932	606	18.35%	2,650	80.25%	46	1.39%
1928	1,234	45.52%	1,468	54.15%	9	0.33%
1924	833	28.83%	94	3.25%	1,962	67.91%
1920	1,470	72.92%	112	5.56%	434	21.53%
1916	992	80.06%	224	18.08%	23	1.86%
1912	0	0.00%	327	32.86%	668	67.14%
1908	785	81.86%	157	16.37%	17	1.77%
1904	727	77.84%	144	15.42%	63	6.75%
1900	898	74.15%	297	24.53%	16	1.32%
1896	512	58.25%	361	41.07%	6	0.68%
1892	487	50.52%	221	22.93%	256	26.56%