28,809 people (2024 Census estimate, +11.5% since 2020)
800 square miles of land · 36 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.
42 active community water systems list Lawrence County in the area they serve, reporting 22,741 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| SPEARFISH groundwater · local government · SD4600311 | 13,803 served |
| LEAD buys surface water · local government · SD4602164 | 2,982 served |
| DEADWOOD buys surface water · local government · SD4600104 | 1,156 served |
| WHITEWOOD groundwater · local government · SD4600368 | 879 served |
| TERRY TROJAN WATER DISTRICT groundwater · private · SD4600053 | 400 served |
| MOUNTAIN PLAINS 2 HOMEOWNERS ASSOC groundwater · private · SD4602169 | 268 served |
| SAINT ONGE SEWER & WATER CO groundwater · local government · SD4600287 | 255 served |
| BOULDER PARK WATER USERS ASSOCIATION groundwater · private · SD4602005 | 200 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 49 people were held in Lawrence County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 281 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 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.
2 school districts have their office in Lawrence County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $35.3 million — $23.7 million to run schools, about $9,789 per student, plus $11.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $18.4 million local (mostly property tax), $9.2 million state, $4 million federal. Long-term debt: $16.8 million.
Spent $15.1 million — $14 million to run schools, about $19,072 per student, plus $1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.4 million local (mostly property tax), $450,000 state, $2.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.7 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: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Lawrence County about $16.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
136 bridges in Lawrence County: 53 in good condition, 67 fair, and 16 poor (11.8%). “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.
| GRANT STREET over SPEARFISH CK · built 1988 | 3,981 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY RD 014B over MILLER CK · built 1934 | 2,000 vehicles a day |
| US014A over ICE BOX CK · built 1964 | 1,725 vehicles a day |
| I-90 SERVICE ROAD over CROW CK · built 1940 | 1,500 vehicles a day |
| CAMP COMFORT ROAD over SPEARFISH CK · built 1975 | 500 vehicles a day |
| WHITEWOOD SERVICE over COUNTY RD RC P&E RR · built 1937 | 500 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $50.8 million of work in Lawrence County in fiscal 2025, about $1,971 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 Lawrence 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 Lawrence County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Dakota: the state government and every county in South Dakota.
Nearby counties: Butte County (41 mi) · Crook County, WY (41 mi) · Custer County (49 mi) · Weston County, WY (51 mi) · Pennington County (54 mi) · Meade County (57 mi).