Hand County, South Dakota

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Hand County, South Dakota
Map
Location in the state of South Dakota
South Dakota's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	1873
Seat	Miller
Largest city	Miller
Area - Total - Land - Water	1,440 sq mi (3,730 km²) 1,437 sq mi (3,721 km²) 4 sq mi (9 km²), 0.25%
Population - (2000) - Density	3,741 3/sq mi (1/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5

Hand County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of 2000, the population is 3,741. Its county seat is Miller.^[1]

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Cities and towns
5 References

[edit] History

Hand County was named for George H. Hand originally from Akron, Ohio. It was created in 1873 by the Dakota territorial legislature. The boundaries were finalized in 1882, the year it was organized.

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,440 square miles (3,730 km²), of which, 1,437 square miles (3,721 km²) of it is land and 4 square miles (9 km²) of it (0.25%) is water.

[edit] Townships

The county is divided into forty townships: Alden, Alpha, Bates, Burdette, Campbell, Carlton, Cedar, Como, Florence, Gilbert, Glendale, Grand, Greenleaf, Hiland, Holden, Hulbert, Linn, Logan, Midland, Miller, Mondamin, Ohio, Ontario, Park, Pearl, Plato, Pleasant Valley, Ree Heights, Riverside, Rockdale, Rose Hill, St. Lawrence, Spring Hill, Spring Lake, Wheaton, and York; and one area of unorganized territory: Northwest Hand.

[edit] Major Highways

[edit] Adjacent Counties

Faulk County, South Dakota - north
Spink County, South Dakota - northeast
Beadle County, South Dakota - east
Jerauld County, South Dakota - southeast
Buffalo County, South Dakota - southwest
Hyde County, South Dakota - west

[edit] Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1900	4,525	—
1910	7,870	73.9%
1920	8,778	11.5%
1930	9,485	8.1%
1940	7,166	-24.4%
1950	7,149	-0.2%
1960	6,712	-6.1%
1970	5,883	-12.4%
1980	4,948	-15.9%
1990	4,272	-13.7%
2000	3,741	-12.4%
Est. 2007	3,273	-12.5%

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 3,741 people, 1,543 households, and 1,050 families residing in the county. The population density was 3 people per square mile (1/km²). There were 1,840 housing units at an average density of 1 per square mile (0/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 99.30% White, 0.03% Black or African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 0.13% from other races, and 0.32% from two or more races. 0.29% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 1,543 households out of which 28.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.90% were married couples living together, 4.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.90% were non-families. 30.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.60% under the age of 18, 5.10% from 18 to 24, 22.30% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 24.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 96.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,377, and the median income for a family was $38,017. Males had a median income of $26,335 versus $16,181 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,735. About 6.10% of families and 9.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.90% of those under age 18 and 10.50% of those age 65 or over.