9,343 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.3% since 2020)
1,097 square miles of land · 9 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.
6 active community water systems list Charles Mix County in the area they serve, reporting 10,052 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| RANDALL COMMUNITY WATER DISTRICT surface water · local government · SD4600433 | 6,248 served |
| WAGNER buys surface water · local government · SD4600348 | 1,490 served |
| PLATTE buys surface water · local government · SD4600246 | 1,256 served |
| LAKE ANDES buys surface water · local government · SD4600185 | 710 served |
| PICKSTOWN buys surface water · local government · SD4680001 | 230 served |
| LAKEVIEW COLONY groundwater · private · SD4602017 | 118 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 22 people were held in Charles Mix County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 412 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 32.
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.
3 school districts have their office in Charles Mix County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $19.4 million — $14.3 million to run schools, about $15,832 per student, plus $5.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.4 million local (mostly property tax), $5.2 million state, $9.4 million federal.
Spent $10.6 million — $6.1 million to run schools, about $11,951 per student, plus $4.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.4 million local (mostly property tax), $1.7 million state, $1.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $4.9 million.
Spent $7.1 million — $6.4 million to run schools, about $18,724 per student, plus $508,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.1 million local (mostly property tax), $1.5 million state, $5.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $557,000.
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 Charles Mix County about $13.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
103 bridges in Charles Mix County: 39 in good condition, 40 fair, and 24 poor (23.3%). “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.
| 30010 400TH AVENUE over CHOTEAU CREEK · built 1958 | 205 vehicles a day |
| 27720 363RD AVENUE over PLATTE CREEK · built 1977 | 48 vehicles a day |
| 36460 276TH STREET over PLATTE CREEK · built 1936 | 48 vehicles a day |
| 27180 369TH AVENUE over PLATTE CREEK · built 1940 | 48 vehicles a day |
| 37570 287 STREET over PEASE CK · built 1920 | 48 vehicles a day |
| 37590 286TH STREET over PEASE CREEK · built 1974 | 48 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $26.5 million of work in Charles Mix County in fiscal 2025, about $2,829 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 Charles Mix 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 Charles Mix County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Dakota: the state government and every county in South Dakota.
Nearby counties: Douglas County (17 mi) · Boyd County, NE (23 mi) · Gregory County (31 mi) · Aurora County (36 mi) · Bon Homme County (39 mi) · Davison County (39 mi).