19,907 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.2% since 2020)
436 square miles of land · 46 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 Davison County in the area they serve, reporting 25,352 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MITCHELL buys surface water · local government · SD4600214 | 15,651 served |
| DAVISON RURAL WATER SYSTEM INC buys surface water · private · SD4601090 | 3,485 served |
| AURORA-BRULE RURAL WATER SYSTEM surface water · private · SD4600621 | 2,750 served |
| HANSON RURAL WATER SYSTEM buys surface water · private · SD4600878 | 2,685 served |
| MOUNT VERNON buys surface water · local government · SD4600220 | 461 served |
| ETHAN buys surface water · local government · SD4600120 | 320 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 1 people were held in Davison County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 8 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 43.
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 Davison County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $34.2 million — $29.8 million to run schools, about $10,947 per student, plus $3.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $17.4 million local (mostly property tax), $14.2 million state, $6 million federal. Long-term debt: $40.9 million.
Spent $3.4 million — $3.1 million to run schools, about $10,901 per student, plus $285,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.3 million local (mostly property tax), $1.9 million state, $539,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1.7 million.
Spent $3.7 million — $3.5 million to run schools, about $12,886 per student, plus $204,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2 million local (mostly property tax), $1.8 million state, $305,000 federal. Long-term debt: $525,000.
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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Davison County about $13.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
123 bridges in Davison County: 41 in good condition, 60 fair, and 22 poor (17.9%). “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.
| SD037 over CK · built 1946 | 3,776 vehicles a day |
| 403RD AVENUE over FIRESTEEL CK · built 1910 | 390 vehicles a day |
| HARMON DRIVE over MITCHELL LK · built 2000 | 350 vehicles a day |
| 408TH AVENUE over SOUTH FORK TWELVE MILE C · built 1930 | 81 vehicles a day |
| 399TH AVENUE over NORTH BR TWELVE MILE CK · built 1972 | 71 vehicles a day |
| 396TH AVENUE over ENEMY CK · built 1967 | 64 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $3.7 million of work in Davison County in fiscal 2025, about $184 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 Davison 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 Davison County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Dakota: the state government and every county in South Dakota.
Nearby counties: Hanson County (18 mi) · Aurora County (21 mi) · Douglas County (22 mi) · Sanborn County (24 mi) · Hutchinson County (31 mi) · Jerauld County (35 mi).