5,261 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.2% since 2020)
817 square miles of land · 6 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
4 active community water systems list Brule County in the area they serve, reporting 6,062 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| AURORA-BRULE RURAL WATER SYSTEM surface water · private · SD4600621 | 2,750 served |
| CHAMBERLAIN surface water · local government · SD4600086 | 2,473 served |
| KIMBALL buys surface water · local government · SD4600184 | 572 served |
| PUKWANA buys surface water · local government · SD4600250 | 267 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 19 people were held in Brule County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 597 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 12.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
2 school districts have their office in Brule County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $26.3 million — $12.1 million to run schools, about $14,223 per student, plus $13.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.9 million local (mostly property tax), $4 million state, $16.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $11.2 million.
Spent $7.1 million — $4.2 million to run schools, about $11,655 per student, plus $2.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.9 million local (mostly property tax), $1.6 million state, $1.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.8 million.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Brule County about $19.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
38 bridges in Brule County: 12 in good condition, 23 fair, and 3 poor (7.9%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| SD050 over R&W RR · built 1952 | 4,431 vehicles a day |
| 365 AVENUE over SMITH CK · built 1956 | 15 vehicles a day |
| 365 AVE FAS 6115 over BR SMITH CK · built 1956 | 15 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $3.5 million of work in Brule County in fiscal 2025, about $669 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for South Dakota are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Brule County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Brule County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Dakota: the state government and every county in South Dakota.
Nearby counties: Buffalo County (22 mi) · Aurora County (26 mi) · Jerauld County (33 mi) · Gregory County (39 mi) · Lyman County (39 mi) · Douglas County (43 mi).