Spink County area

Spink County, South Dakota covers 1,509.7 square miles: 1,503.5 square miles of land and 6.241 square miles of water. Its county seat is Redfield. An estimated 6,155 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 461152026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area1,503.5 mi²
Water area6.241 mi²
Population (2025)6,155
People per mi²4.1

County outline

Generalized outline of Spink County, South Dakota
2025 Census cartographic boundary, fitted to this frame. County maps are not at a common scale. The 2026 area measurements below come from the separate Gazetteer release. Map source and limitations.

Where Spink County is located

Spink County highlighted on a map of all U.S. county equivalents. About the maps

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 99.6% of Spink County’s measured area and water for 0.4%. Its combined area converts to 3,910.2 square kilometers or approximately 966,234 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land1,503.4993,894.045962,239.4
Water6.24116.1643,994.2
Total1,509.743,910.209966,233.6

How Spink County compares

By original Census land area, Spink County ranks #17 of 66 in South Dakota and #396 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.653 times the South Dakota county-equivalent median of 909.3 square miles. It accounts for 2% of the combined county land area in the state.

See the complete South Dakota ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?

Population and density of Spink County

The Census Bureau estimates that 6,155 people lived in Spink County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #2,796 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #29 of 66 in South Dakota. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 6,358, the population has declined by 203 (−3.2%), compared with +5.5% for South Dakota as a whole.

With 1,503.5 square miles of land, that is 4.1 people per square mile (1.6 per km²), placing Spink County #2,899 nationally for density and #40 in South Dakota. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the South Dakota median is 5.7. Put another way, there are about 156 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate6,3436,2666,2376,1646,1546,155
Change—−77−29−73−10+1

U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates. Estimates are revised each year and are not decennial census counts. Density divides the whole population by the whole county’s land area, so it describes an average, not how settlement is distributed within the county. Population sources and methods.

Cities and towns in Spink County

10 incorporated places lie at least partly in Spink County. Together they are home to 3,360 people (54.6%); the other 2,795 (45.4%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Redfield city, with 2,114 residents in the county.

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Redfield cityCounty seat2,114−4.5%1.928
Tulare town206−2.4%0.256
Doland city196−3%0.608
Mellette city194−3%0.256
Conde city139−3.5%0.563
Northville town135−2.9%0.376
Frankfort city132−2.9%0.788
Ashton city104−1.9%0.438
Brentford town86−1.1%0.163
Turton town54−3.6%0.367

Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each place inside Spink County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer, for the whole place even where it extends into other counties. How communities are listed.

Metropolitan area

Spink County is not part of any metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area in the Office of Management and Budget’s July 2023 delineation; 1,306 other county equivalents are also outside one. These areas are built around an urban core of at least 10,000 people plus the counties tied to it by commuting, so counties outside them are generally rural.

ZIP codes

15 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Spink County; 10 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

572585732257348574245742957434574365744057460574615746557469574745747657477

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are the Census Bureau’s approximations of USPS ZIP Code service areas, from the 2020 Census relationship files. Lighter codes have less than half of their land in this county. Post-office-box and single-address ZIP Codes have no tabulation area.

Counties bordering Spink County

Spink County shares a land border with 6 county equivalents. It has more land than 5 of them. The largest neighbor is Brown County (1,713 mi²) and the smallest is Clark County (957.5 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Spink County forms a block of 8,879.6 mi² of land, of which it holds 16.9%.

Map of Spink County and the 6 county equivalents that border it Clark County, South Dakota: 957.5 mi² landBeadle County, South Dakota: 1,258.7 mi² landBrown County, South Dakota: 1,713 mi² landFaulk County, South Dakota: 981.7 mi² landHand County, South Dakota: 1,436.6 mi² landDay County, South Dakota: 1,028.5 mi² land
Spink County (dark) and its bordering county equivalents. Select a neighbor to open its profile. Drawn from the 2025 Census cartographic boundaries in an equal-area projection. How borders are determined.
Bordering county equivalentLand mi²Size vs. SpinkCompare
Brown County1,7131.1× largerCompare
Hand County1,436.6about the sameCompare
Beadle County1,258.71.2× smallerCompare
Day County1,028.51.5× smallerCompare
Faulk County981.71.5× smallerCompare
Clark County957.51.6× smallerCompare

How big is Spink County compared with U.S. states?

Spink County has more land than 1 of the 50 states. It is about 1.5 times the land area of Rhode Island (1,033.9 mi²), while Delaware, the next larger state, has 1.3 times as much land (1,948.6 mi²). South Dakota’s county land could hold about 50 areas the size of Spink County.

Land area: Spink County and the closest-sized states
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²
Spink County1,503.5 mi²
Delaware1,948.6 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 38.8 miles (62.4 km) on each side. Real county shapes are rarely square, so this is a scale reference rather than a width or driving distance.

State figures are the sums of each state’s county-equivalent land measurements in the same Census release, so states and counties are compared on the same basis. Published state totals can differ slightly because of rounding. Compare all states · Counties bigger than entire states.

What stands out about Spink County?

Spink County has more land than 2,826 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Spink County1,503.5 mi²
South Dakota median909.3 mi²
National median604.5 mi²

A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.

Does including water change its rank?

Using land plus water places Spink County at #445 nationally by total area, 49 places farther from the top than its land rank. Other county equivalents gain more area when their water measurements are included.

Its water share is 0.4%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 0.8 percentage points lower. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.

Closest positions in the national land ranking

These entries sit immediately beside Spink County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#395Emmons County, North Dakota1,508.4Compare
#396Spink County, South Dakota1,503.5This county
#397Dallam County, Texas1,503.4Compare

Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.

Representative coordinates

The Census internal point is 44.923772, -98.339615. It represents a location inside the geography; it is not necessarily the centroid or the address of a courthouse.

Source and precision

U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 Gazetteer Files, Counties. Original ALAND: 3,894,043,727 m²; AWATER: 16,165,379 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.

Download the official county source ZIP ↗ · Methodology

Common questions

How big is Spink County?

Spink County, South Dakota has 1,503.5 square miles (3,894 km²) of land and 6.241 square miles of water, for a total area of 1,509.7 square miles. It ranks #396 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Spink County the largest county in South Dakota?

No. Spink County ranks #17 of 66 in South Dakota by land area. The largest is Meade County, with 3,470.9 square miles of land.

What counties border Spink County?

Spink County shares a land border with Clark County, Beadle County, Brown County, Faulk County, Hand County, and Day County.

What is the population of Spink County?

The Census Bureau estimates Spink County had 6,155 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #2,796 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 4.1 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Spink County?

The county seat of Spink County is Redfield.

What cities and towns are in Spink County?

Spink County has 10 incorporated places. The most populous five are Redfield city, Tulare town, Doland city, Mellette city, and Conde city; 2,795 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Spink County part of a metropolitan area?

No. Spink County is outside every metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area in the July 2023 OMB delineation.

How many ZIP codes are in Spink County?

15 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Spink County, and 10 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

How does Spink County compare with U.S. states?

It has more land than 1 of the 50 states, including Rhode Island (1,033.9 square miles of land).

How many acres of land are in Spink County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 962,239 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 966,234 acres. One square mile equals 640 acres.

Why might another source show a different area?

Check whether it reports land or total area, its Census vintage, and its rounding. Our guide explains how to reconcile county area figures.

Can this establish a property boundary?

No. Statistical measurements and generalized maps do not establish property lines. Consult the relevant local surveying or land-records authority.

Cite this county

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