Buffalo County, South Dakota: public records at a glance

How Buffalo County compares — against the other counties in South Dakota

• 1,825 — people: 60th highest of 66 South Dakota counties.
• 54.0 years — life expectancy: the lowest of 61 South Dakota counties.
• 12.8% — share of adults under 65 without health insurance: 16th highest of 66 South Dakota counties.
• 38.1% — child poverty: 4th highest of 66 South Dakota counties.
• 61.5% — households with broadband internet: 64th highest of 66 South Dakota counties.
• $32,803 — median household income: the lowest of 66 South Dakota counties.
• 4.0% — share of bridges rated poor: 61st highest of 66 South Dakota counties.
• $2,928 — federal grant dollars per resident: 18th highest of 66 South Dakota counties.
• $4.2 million — expected yearly losses from natural hazards: 55th highest of 66 South Dakota counties.

“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.

Drinking water — public water systems serving Buffalo County

1 active community water system list Buffalo County in the area they serve, reporting 2,750 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).

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.

The jail — people held in the county jail

No county jail figure in the national data for Buffalo County — not gathered, never hidden. Some counties share a regional jail or have none.

Health, money and internet at home — Buffalo County beside South Dakota

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.

Disaster risk — FEMA's National Risk Index

Overall risk: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Buffalo County about $4.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Relatively High.

The costliest hazards here

Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.

Bridges — condition of every public bridge, 2025

25 bridges in Buffalo County: 8 in good condition, 16 fair, and 1 poor (4.0%). “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.

Busiest bridges rated poor

Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.

Federal grants — the money that came in, and what's open now

Federal grants paid for $5.7 million of work in Buffalo County in fiscal 2025, about $2,928 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.

Open now: federal grants county governments can apply for

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.

Voting

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.

Not here yet

The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Buffalo 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 Buffalo County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.

More of South Dakota: the state government and every county in South Dakota.

Nearby counties: Brule County (22 mi) · Jerauld County (29 mi) · Lyman County (33 mi) · Hand County (36 mi) · Hyde County (37 mi) · Aurora County (38 mi).