Day County, South Dakota

Day County, South Dakota
Day County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,449. Its county seat is Webster. The county is named for Merritt H. Day, pioneer and 1879 Dakota Territory legislator.
Geography
The terrain of Day County consists of rolling hills, partly devoted to agriculture. It is dotted with numerous lakes and ponds, especially its eastern portion. The terrain slopes to the west; its highest point is the northeast corner, at ASL.
The county has a total area of , of which is land and (5.8%) is water.
Lakes
Amsden
Antelope
Bitter
Blue Dog
Enemy Swim
Horseshoe
Lynn
Minnewaste
Pickerel Lake
Reetz
Rush
Sweetwater
Waubay
Major highways
U.S. Highway 12
South Dakota Highway 25
South Dakota Highway 27
Adjacent counties
Marshall County - north
Roberts County - east
Grant County - southeast
Codington County - southeast
Clark County - south
Spink County - southwest
Brown County - west
Protected areas
Buchner Slough State Public Shooting Area
Holmquist Slough State Public Shooting Area
Lily State Public Shooting Area
Myland Pass State Public Shooting Area
Nelson Slough State Public Shooting Area
Pickerel Lake State Recreation Area
Pierpont Lake Recreation Area
Waubay National Wildlife Refuge
Demographics
2020 census
As of the census of 2020, there were 5,449 people.
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 5,710 people, 2,504 households, and 1,561 families in the county. The population density was . There were 3,630 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 88.1% white, 9.5% American Indian, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% black or African American, 0.4% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.1% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 43.8% were German, 25.1% were Norwegian, 12.8% were Polish, 8.8% were Irish, and 6.1% were American.
Of the 2,504 households, 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.7% were non-families, and 34.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.83. The median age was 47.9 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $36,818 and the median income for a family was $47,949. Males had a median income of $36,549 versus $25,750 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,542. About 10.7% of families and 12.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.
Communities
Cities
Bristol
Waubay
Webster (county seat)
Towns
Andover
Butler
Grenville
Pierpont
Roslyn
Census-designated place
Enemy Swim
Unincorporated communities
Amsden
Crandall
Holmquist
Lily
Townships
Andover
Bristol
Butler
Central Point
Egeland
Farmington
Grenville
Highland
Homer
Independence
Kidder
Kosciusko
Liberty
Lynn
Morton
Nutley
Oak Gulch
Racine
Raritan
Rusk
Scotland
Troy
Union
Valley
Waubay
Webster
Wheatland
York
Politics
Day County voters have tended to vote Democratic for the past several decades. Since 1948 the county has selected the Democratic Party candidate in 71% of national elections. However, the county swung hard to Donald Trump in 2016, and in 2020 Trump posted the best percentage in the county by a Republican presidential candidate since Theodore Roosevelt in 1904.
See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Day County, South Dakota
Historic Mapworks: Day County 1929 Township Maps
References
External links
Day County, South Dakota website
1880 establishments in Dakota Territory
Populated places established in 1880