5,771 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.7% since 2020)
574 square miles of land · 10 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.
9 active community water systems list McCook County in the area they serve, reporting 36,806 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MINNEHAHA COMMUNITY WATER CORP groundwater · private · SD4600432 | 13,435 served |
| BY WATER DISTRICT surface water · local government · SD4600865 | 13,320 served |
| TM RURAL WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · SD4600999 | 4,250 served |
| HANSON RURAL WATER SYSTEM buys surface water · private · SD4600878 | 2,685 served |
| SALEM groundwater · local government · SD4600288 | 1,325 served |
| CANISTOTA buys groundwater · local government · SD4600080 | 642 served |
| BRIDGEWATER buys surface water · local government · SD4600066 | 511 served |
| MONTROSE buys groundwater · local government · SD4600217 | 468 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 McCook County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (1978), or 26 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 1970 it was about 3.
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.
4 school districts have their office in McCook County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $6.3 million — $5.2 million to run schools, about $12,069 per student, plus $844,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4 million local (mostly property tax), $2.1 million state, $848,000 federal. Long-term debt: $5.6 million.
Spent $5.7 million — $4.8 million to run schools, about $14,529 per student, plus $764,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.3 million local (mostly property tax), $1.8 million state, $638,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.2 million.
Spent $4.7 million — $4.1 million to run schools, about $14,024 per student, plus $540,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.2 million local (mostly property tax), $1.9 million state, $342,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3 million.
Spent $3.8 million — $3.8 million to run schools, about $14,726 per student, plus $7,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.7 million local (mostly property tax), $1.8 million state, $281,000 federal. Long-term debt: $4,000.
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 McCook County about $21.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
98 bridges in McCook County: 44 in good condition, 47 fair, and 7 poor (7.1%). “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.
| 445 AVE (FAS 6355) over I090 · built 1964 | 328 vehicles a day |
| 448TH AVENUE over LITTLE VERMILLION RIVER · built 1940 | 173 vehicles a day |
| 451ST AVENUE over TRIB. TO E FORK VERM RV · built 1930 | 66 vehicles a day |
| 433RD AVENUE over TRIBUTARY TO WOLF CREEK · built 1977 | 50 vehicles a day |
| 439TH AVENUE over W. FORK OF VERMILLION RV · built 1961 | 45 vehicles a day |
| 263RD STREET over WOLF CREEK · built 1961 | 35 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $11.6 million of work in McCook County in fiscal 2025, about $2,049 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 McCook 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 McCook County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Dakota: the state government and every county in South Dakota.
Nearby counties: Hanson County (22 mi) · Miner County (27 mi) · Lake County (27 mi) · Turner County (28 mi) · Minnehaha County (28 mi) · Hutchinson County (31 mi).