PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Meade County
Meade County
County
	Black Hills National Cemetery
	Location within the U.S. state of South Dakota
	South Dakota's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 44°34′N 102°43′W / 44.57°N 102.71°W
Country	United States
State	South Dakota
Founded	February 7, 1889
Named for	George Meade
Seat	Sturgis
Largest city	Sturgis
Area
• Total	3,483 sq mi (9,020 km2)
• Land	3,471 sq mi (8,990 km2)
• Water	12 sq mi (30 km2) 0.3%
Population (2020)
• Total	29,852
• Estimate (2023)	30,954
• Density	8.6/sq mi (3.3/km2)
Time zone	UTC−7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
Congressional district	At-large
Website	www.meadecounty.org

Meade County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,852, making it the 6th most populous county in South Dakota.^[1] Its county seat is Sturgis.^[2] The county was created in 1889 and named for Fort Meade, which was garrisoned as a United States military post in the area in 1878 and itself named for General George Meade.^[3]

Meade County is part of the Rapid City Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

The upper part of Meade County is drained by Cherry Creek. The Cheyenne River flows northeastward along the southeast boundary of the county. The county terrain has mountain ridges in the west and southwest areas, with the remainder consisting of semi-arid rolling hills, partly dedicated to agriculture.^[4] The county terrain slopes to the east and northeast; its highest point Flagstaff Mountain is near the southwest corner, at 5,421 ft (1,652 m) ASL.^[5]

The county has an area of 3,483 square miles (9,020 km²), of which 3,471 square miles (8,990 km²) is land and 12 square miles (31 km²) (0.3%) is water.^[6] It is South Dakota's largest county by area.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Perkins County - north
Ziebach County - east
Haakon County -southeast
Pennington County - south
Lawrence County - southwest
Butte County - northwest

Protected areas^[4]

Bear Butte Lake State Lakeside Use Area
Bear Butte National Wildlife Refuge
Bear Butte State Park
Black Hills National Cemetery
Black Hills National Forest (partial)
Curlew Lake State Game Production Area
Marcotte State Game Production Area
Tisdale Lake State Game Production Area
Opal Lake State Game Production Area

Lakes^[4]

Bear Butte Lake
Curlew Lake
Durkee Lake
Opal Lake
Tisdale Dam

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1890	4,640		—
1900	4,907		5.8%
1910	12,640		157.6%
1920	9,367		−25.9%
1930	11,482		22.6%
1940	9,735		−15.2%
1950	11,516		18.3%
1960	12,044		4.6%
1970	16,618		38.0%
1980	20,717		24.7%
1990	21,878		5.6%
2000	24,253		10.9%
2010	25,434		4.9%
2020	29,852		17.4%
2023 (est.)	30,954	^[7]	3.7%
U.S. Decennial Census^[8] 1790-1960^[9] 1900-1990^[10] 1990-2000^[11] 2010-2020^[1]

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 29,852 people, 11,365 households, and 7,863 families residing in the county.^[12] The population density was 8.6 inhabitants per square mile (3.3/km²). There were 12,357 housing units.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 25,434 people, 9,903 households, and 7,067 families in the county. The population density was 7.3 inhabitants per square mile (2.8/km²). There were 11,000 housing units at an average density of 3.2 per square mile (1.2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.0% white, 2.3% American Indian, 1.3% black or African American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.8% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 40.5% were German, 15.3% were Irish, 13.2% were Norwegian, 11.3% were English, and 6.9% were American.

Of the 9,903 households, 33.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.2% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.6% were non-families, and 23.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.93. The median age was 35.9 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $46,180 and the median income for a family was $54,200. Males had a median income of $34,113 versus $27,548 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,045. About 6.6% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.1% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Box Elder (part)
Faith
Piedmont
Sturgis (county seat)
Summerset

Town

Buffalo Chip

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities^[4]

Townships

Dakota
Eagle
Elm Springs
Howard
Lakeside
Smithville
Upper Red Owl

Unorganized territories

Belle Fourche-Cheyenne Valleys
North Meade
Southwest Meade

Politics

Like most of the Black Hills, Meade County is heavily Republican. It last supported a Democrat for president in 1964.

United States presidential election results for Meade County, South Dakota^[13]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	10,887	74.20%	3,421	23.32%	364	2.48%
2020	9,875	72.24%	3,285	24.03%	510	3.73%
2016	8,441	72.64%	2,223	19.13%	957	8.24%
2012	7,566	69.95%	2,928	27.07%	323	2.99%
2008	7,515	64.75%	3,751	32.32%	340	2.93%
2004	8,347	72.56%	2,941	25.57%	216	1.88%
2000	6,870	73.35%	2,267	24.20%	229	2.45%
1996	4,984	54.32%	2,960	32.26%	1,232	13.43%
1992	4,724	46.89%	2,694	26.74%	2,657	26.37%
1988	5,189	61.24%	3,212	37.91%	72	0.85%
1984	5,908	73.47%	2,093	26.03%	40	0.50%
1980	5,349	70.93%	1,721	22.82%	471	6.25%
1976	3,096	54.41%	2,478	43.55%	116	2.04%
1972	3,416	67.24%	1,633	32.15%	31	0.61%
1968	2,392	56.19%	1,522	35.75%	343	8.06%
1964	2,140	47.95%	2,323	52.05%	0	0.00%
1960	2,644	57.89%	1,923	42.11%	0	0.00%
1956	2,467	59.81%	1,658	40.19%	0	0.00%
1952	3,109	69.98%	1,334	30.02%	0	0.00%
1948	2,053	54.47%	1,681	44.60%	35	0.93%
1944	1,912	62.16%	1,164	37.84%	0	0.00%
1940	2,560	57.00%	1,931	43.00%	0	0.00%
1936	2,064	44.71%	2,304	49.91%	248	5.37%
1932	1,735	37.65%	2,687	58.31%	186	4.04%
1928	2,845	66.04%	1,441	33.45%	22	0.51%
1924	2,006	57.43%	786	22.50%	701	20.07%
1920	1,894	58.37%	894	27.55%	457	14.08%
1916	858	38.25%	1,224	54.57%	161	7.18%
1912	0	0.00%	975	43.72%	1,255	56.28%
1908	953	51.24%	792	42.58%	115	6.18%
1904	754	65.79%	268	23.39%	124	10.82%
1900	550	48.89%	565	50.22%	10	0.89%
1896	550	40.56%	802	59.14%	4	0.29%
1892	427	36.56%	128	10.96%	613	52.48%