Jones County, South Dakota

Jones County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 917, making it the least populous county in South Dakota. Its county seat is Murdo. Created in 1916 and organized in 1917, it is the most recently established county in South Dakota. It was named after Granville Whittington Jones, an Arkansas-born clergyman/lawyer, who moved to Chamberlain, SD and became a noted Chautauqua speaker.

Geography
The terrain of Jones County consists of semi-arid rolling hills, partially devoted to agriculture. The Bad River flows north easterly through the northwest corner of the county, and the White River forms the county's southern boundary. The southern areas of the county are carved with gullies and drainages flowing to the White River. The terrain generally slopes to the northeast, and its highest point is on the lower western boundary, at 2,444 ft ASL. The county has a total area of 971 sqmi, of which 970 sqmi is land and 1.2 sqmi (0.1%) is water.

The eastern portion of South Dakota's counties (48 of 66) observe Central Time; the western counties (18 of 66) observe Mountain Time. Jones County is one of the SD counties to observe Central Time.

Major highways

 * [[Image:I-90.svg|20px]] Interstate 90
 * [[Image:US 83.svg|20px]] U.S. Highway 83

Adjacent counties

 * Stanley County - north
 * Lyman County - east
 * Mellette County - south
 * Jackson County - southwest (observes Mountain Time)
 * Haakon County - northwest (observes Mountain Time)

Protected area

 * Buxcel State Game Production Area
 * Fort Pierre National Grassland (part)

Lakes

 * Sheriff Reservoir

2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 917 people, 399 households, and 245 families residing in the county. The population density was 0.9 PD/sqmi. There were 504 housing units.

2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 1,006 people, 458 households, and 280 families in the county. The population density was 1.0 PD/sqmi. There were 589 housing units at an average density of 0.6 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 95.6% white, 2.0% American Indian, 0.4% Pacific islander, 0.1% black or African American, 0.0% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.3% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 48.8% were German, 15.9% were Irish, 10.2% were Norwegian, 9.0% were Dutch, and 1.9% were American.

In terms of ancestry in 2016, 39.1% were of German, 14.3% were of Irish, 13.9% were of Norwegian, 11.4% were of Dutch, 6.4% were of English, 6.2 were of French.

Of the 458 households, 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.7% were married couples living together, 5.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 38.9% were non-families, and 35.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.86. The median age was 46.9 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $49,464 and the median income for a family was $56,589. Males had a median income of $33,021 versus $27,115 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,630. About 6.6% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.7% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over.

City

 * Murdo (county seat)

Town

 * Draper

Census-designated place

 * Okaton

Unincorporated community

 * Capa

Townships

 * Buffalo
 * Draper
 * Dunkel
 * Grandview
 * Kolls
 * Morga
 * Mullen
 * Mussman
 * Okaton
 * Scovil
 * South Creek
 * Williams Creek
 * Zickrick

Unorganized territories

 * Central Jones
 * North Jones
 * Rich Valley
 * Westover

Politics
Jones County voters have been reliably Republican. The last Democrat to carry Jones County in a Presidential election was Lyndon Johnson in 1964, and Jimmy Carter in 1976 was the last to top one third of the county's ballots. Even before the Democratic Party turned towards its modern liberalism, Jones County did not vote for any Democrat except LBJ and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936 – and in the latter election when Roosevelt won 46 of 48 states he beat Alf Landon in Jones County by just twelve votes.