2,849 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.5% since 2020)
432 square miles of land · 7 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.
8 active community water systems list Douglas County in the area they serve, reporting 21,172 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BY WATER DISTRICT surface water · local government · SD4600865 | 13,320 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 |
| ARMOUR buys surface water · local government · SD4600028 | 698 served |
| CORSICA buys surface water · local government · SD4600097 | 561 served |
| DELMONT buys surface water · local government · SD4600106 | 153 served |
| CLEARFIELD COLONY groundwater · private · SD4602020 | 120 served |
| GREENWOOD COLONY groundwater · private · SD4602022 | 85 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 6 people were held in Douglas County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 412 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 10.
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 Douglas County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $10.8 million — $3.6 million to run schools, about $13,043 per student, plus $7.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.7 million local (mostly property tax), $990,000 state, $959,000 federal. Long-term debt: $5.6 million.
Spent $3.3 million — $3.1 million to run schools, about $13,941 per student, plus $257,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.9 million local (mostly property tax), $1.1 million state, $414,000 federal. Long-term debt: $537,000.
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 Douglas County about $6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
44 bridges in Douglas County: 19 in good condition, 18 fair, and 7 poor (15.9%). “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.
| IRR US018 over CREEK · built 1961 | 556 vehicles a day |
| 39280 284 ST over BR CHOTEAU CK · built 1925 | 330 vehicles a day |
| 38830 280 ST over ANDES CK · built 1950 | 206 vehicles a day |
| 38840 278 ST over ANDES CK · built 1972 | 30 vehicles a day |
| 39530 271 ST over CK · built 1980 | 25 vehicles a day |
| 40340 287 ST. over CK · built 1912 | 20 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $305,367 of work in Douglas County in fiscal 2025, about $108 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 Douglas 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 Douglas County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Dakota: the state government and every county in South Dakota.
Nearby counties: Charles Mix County (17 mi) · Davison County (22 mi) · Aurora County (25 mi) · Hutchinson County (31 mi) · Hanson County (35 mi) · Bon Homme County (37 mi).