10,283 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.2% since 2020)
1,101 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.
9 active community water systems list Roberts County in the area they serve, reporting 9,192 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| GRANT-ROBERTS RURAL WATER SYSTEM groundwater · private · SD4600864 | 5,050 served |
| SISSETON groundwater · local government · SD4600310 | 2,479 served |
| WILMOT buys groundwater · local government · SD4600371 | 432 served |
| ROSHOLT groundwater · local government · SD4600283 | 379 served |
| SUMMIT groundwater · local government · SD4600326 | 288 served |
| NEW EFFINGTON buys groundwater · local government · SD4600013 | 247 served |
| PEEVER buys groundwater · local government · SD4600237 | 140 served |
| WHITE ROCK COLONY groundwater · private · SD4602027 | 108 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 72 people were held in Roberts County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 1,252 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 28.
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 Roberts County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $14 million — $12.9 million to run schools, about $13,155 per student, plus $1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.9 million local (mostly property tax), $3.8 million state, $8.1 million federal.
Spent $3.4 million — $3.4 million to run schools, about $14,502 per student. Money in: $2.1 million local (mostly property tax), $1.4 million state, $479,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.1 million.
Spent $4 million — $3.4 million to run schools, about $15,275 per student, plus $418,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.8 million local (mostly property tax), $1.1 million state, $1.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $253,000.
Spent $2.8 million — $2.5 million to run schools, about $13,614 per student, plus $87,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.5 million local (mostly property tax), $1.6 million state, $655,000 federal. Long-term debt: $2.8 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Roberts County about $8.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
158 bridges in Roberts County: 41 in good condition, 77 fair, and 40 poor (25.3%). “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.
| IRR SD127 over LITTLE MINNESOTA RV · built 1953 | 872 vehicles a day |
| IRR SD127 over BIG SLOUGH CK · built 1955 | 354 vehicles a day |
| 105 ST over BOIS DE SIOUX R · built 1930 | 200 vehicles a day |
| 101ST STREET over CREEK · built 1929 | 144 vehicles a day |
| 118TH STREET over LITTLE MINNESOTA RIVER · built 1939 | 68 vehicles a day |
| 141ST STREET over CREEK · built 1969 | 68 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $36.5 million of work in Roberts County in fiscal 2025, about $3,552 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 Roberts 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 Roberts County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Dakota: the state government and every county in South Dakota.
Nearby counties: Traverse County, MN (25 mi) · Big Stone County, MN (30 mi) · Marshall County (32 mi) · Grant County (32 mi) · Day County (36 mi) · Richland County, ND (44 mi).