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Hanson County
Hanson County
County
	Saint Peter's Grotto is on the National Register of Historic Places
	Location within the U.S. state of South Dakota
	South Dakota's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 43°40′N 97°47′W / 43.66°N 97.79°W
Country	United States
State	South Dakota
Founded	1871 (created); 1873 (organized)
Named for	Joseph R. Hanson
Seat	Alexandria
Largest city	Alexandria
Area
• Total	434.5 sq mi (1,125 km2)
• Land	435.4 sq mi (1,128 km2)
• Water	0.9 sq mi (2 km2) 0.2%
Population (2020)
• Total	3,461
• Estimate (2023)	3,471
• Density	8.0/sq mi (3.1/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	At-large
Website	www.hansoncounty.net

Hanson County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,461.^[1] Its county seat is Alexandria.^[2] The county was founded in 1871 and organized in 1873.^[3] It was named for Joseph R. Hanson, clerk of the first legislature.^[4] Hanson County is part of the Mitchell, SD Micropolitan Statistical Area. The county is somewhat unique among those in the United States in that there are no officially registered airports within the county borders.

Geography

The terrain of Hanson County consists of low rolling hills; its area is mostly devoted to agriculture. The James River flows southeastward through the lower western part of the county.^[5] The terrain slopes toward the river basin on both sides, and generally gently slopes to the south.^[6]

Hanson county has a total area of 435.3 square miles (1,127 km²), of which 434.5 square miles (1,125 km²) is land and 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²) (0.2%) is water.^[7] It is the third-smallest county in South Dakota by area.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Miner County - north
McCook County - east
Hutchinson County - south
Davison County - west
Sanborn County - northwest

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1880	1,301		—
1890	4,267		228.0%
1900	4,947		15.9%
1910	6,237		26.1%
1920	6,202		−0.6%
1930	6,131		−1.1%
1940	5,400		−11.9%
1950	4,896		−9.3%
1960	4,584		−6.4%
1970	3,781		−17.5%
1980	3,415		−9.7%
1990	2,994		−12.3%
2000	3,139		4.8%
2010	3,331		6.1%
2020	3,461		3.9%
2023 (est.)	3,471	^[8]	0.3%
U.S. Decennial Census^[9] 1790-1960^[10] 1900-1990^[11] 1990-2000^[12] 2010-2020^[1]

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 3,461 people, 1,146 households, and 855 families residing in the county.^[13] The population density was 8.0 inhabitants per square mile (3.1/km²). There were 1,279 housing units.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 3,331 people, 1,045 households, and 793 families in the county. The population density was 7.7 inhabitants per square mile (3.0/km²). There were 1,177 housing units at an average density of 2.7 units per square mile (1.0 units/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.6% white, 0.3% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.2% from other races, and 0.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 63.7% were German, 10.8% were Irish, 6.2% were English, 5.2% were Norwegian, and 4.0% were American.

Of the 1,045 households, 35.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.8% were married couples living together, 3.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 24.1% were non-families, and 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.14. The median age was 35.5 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $46,556 and the median income for a family was $52,425. Males had a median income of $38,088 versus $23,750 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,391. About 13.8% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.6% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over.

Hanson County was mentioned as an "Extreme Whitopia" in Rich Benjamin's book, Searching for Whitopia.^[14]

Communities

Cities

Alexandria (county seat)
Emery

Towns

Religious communities

Unincorporated community

Epiphany,^[5] partial

Government

Townships

Beulah
Edgerton
Emery
Fairview
Hanson
Jasper
Plano
Rosedale
Springlake
Taylor
Wayne
Worthen

Politics

Hanson County voters tend to vote Republican. Since 1936, they have selected the Republican Party candidate in 65% of national elections.

United States presidential election results for Hanson County, South Dakota^[15]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	1,611	78.74%	399	19.50%	36	1.76%
2020	1,793	75.08%	557	23.32%	38	1.59%
2016	1,497	74.63%	424	21.14%	85	4.24%
2012	1,627	67.34%	760	31.46%	29	1.20%
2008	1,426	58.66%	961	39.53%	44	1.81%
2004	1,379	64.14%	745	34.65%	26	1.21%
2000	944	66.43%	457	32.16%	20	1.41%
1996	801	52.22%	541	35.27%	192	12.52%
1992	522	36.38%	566	39.44%	347	24.18%
1988	786	50.00%	776	49.36%	10	0.64%
1984	898	58.69%	625	40.85%	7	0.46%
1980	1,015	58.84%	598	34.67%	112	6.49%
1976	693	40.60%	1,005	58.88%	9	0.53%
1972	876	45.96%	1,022	53.62%	8	0.42%
1968	901	50.08%	826	45.91%	72	4.00%
1964	802	39.43%	1,232	60.57%	0	0.00%
1960	1,087	48.53%	1,153	51.47%	0	0.00%
1956	1,050	46.94%	1,187	53.06%	0	0.00%
1952	1,320	63.07%	773	36.93%	0	0.00%
1948	860	47.05%	953	52.13%	15	0.82%
1944	1,070	55.33%	864	44.67%	0	0.00%
1940	1,408	53.66%	1,216	46.34%	0	0.00%
1936	1,090	40.25%	1,530	56.50%	88	3.25%
1932	845	31.89%	1,783	67.28%	22	0.83%
1928	1,576	58.13%	1,129	41.65%	6	0.22%
1924	811	40.47%	299	14.92%	894	44.61%
1920	1,001	51.87%	418	21.66%	511	26.48%
1916	767	51.10%	712	47.44%	22	1.47%
1912	0	0.00%	632	45.05%	771	54.95%
1908	668	48.69%	630	45.92%	74	5.39%
1904	745	55.76%	523	39.15%	68	5.09%
1900	607	49.07%	607	49.07%	23	1.86%
1896	420	38.75%	658	60.70%	6	0.55%
1892	378	36.21%	196	18.77%	470	45.02%