10,891 people (2024 Census estimate, +5.8% since 2020)
2,250 square miles of land · 5 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.
12 active community water systems list Butte County in the area they serve, reporting 9,372 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BELLE FOURCHE groundwater · local government · SD4600037 | 5,617 served |
| BUTTE-MEADE SWD-BEAN WELL groundwater · local government · SD4600223 | 1,481 served |
| NEWELL groundwater · local government · SD4600222 | 583 served |
| RIMROCK WATER COMPANY LLC groundwater · private · SD4602220 | 365 served |
| BUTTE-MEADE SWD-VALE WELL groundwater · local government · SD4602314 | 357 served |
| HAY CREEK WATER COMPANY buys groundwater · private · SD4602143 | 323 served |
| NISLAND groundwater · local government · SD4600225 | 206 served |
| BLACK HILLS WATER DISTRIBUTION, LLC groundwater · private · SD4602144 | 135 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 12 people were held in Butte County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 192 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 14.
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 Butte County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $16.8 million — $14.6 million to run schools, about $10,998 per student, plus $2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.7 million local (mostly property tax), $7.1 million state, $3.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.9 million.
Spent $4.3 million — $3.8 million to run schools, about $13,093 per student, plus $463,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.6 million local (mostly property tax), $1.5 million state, $815,000 federal. Long-term debt: $2.1 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Butte County about $8.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
142 bridges in Butte County: 46 in good condition, 76 fair, and 20 poor (14.1%). “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.
| ARPAN RD over SOUTH CANAL · built 1975 | 269 vehicles a day |
| OLD HWY 212 over STATION ELM CK · built 1945 | 48 vehicles a day |
| GAVER ROAD over REDWATER RV · built 1920 | 47 vehicles a day |
| OLSON CUTOFF ROAD over BELLE FOURCHE RV · built 1995 | 47 vehicles a day |
| BROOKER RD over INDIAN CK · built 1950 | 47 vehicles a day |
| BROOKER RD over HILDER BRAND CK · built 1985 | 47 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $7.9 million of work in Butte County in fiscal 2025, about $776 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 Butte 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 Butte County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Dakota: the state government and every county in South Dakota.
Nearby counties: Lawrence County (41 mi) · Meade County (43 mi) · Harding County (48 mi) · Crook County, WY (56 mi) · Perkins County (65 mi) · Carter County, MT (65 mi).