How this list was compiled: Items made on 2026-09-26. Licence: public domain (work of the United States government, 17 U.S.C. 105): https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/data/tiger/tgrshp2023/TGRSHP2023_TechDoc_Ch1.pdf
The drawing: Drawn for this site from U.S. Census Bureau 2023 cartographic boundary file cb_2023_us_county_5m (scale 1:5,000,000), https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2023/shp/cb_2023_us_county_5m.zip, downloaded 2026-09-19. Surrounding land from U.S. Census Bureau 2023 cartographic boundary file cb_2023_us_state_5m (scale 1:5,000,000), https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2023/shp/cb_2023_us_state_5m.zip, downloaded 2026-09-19. Albers equal-area conic projection, central meridian 99.5°W, standard parallels 43.1°N and 45.4°N. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. Licence: public domain (work of the United States government, 17 U.S.C. 105): https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/data/tiger/tgrshp2023/TGRSHP2023_TechDoc_Ch1.pdf
How it works
This blank map of South Dakota shows all 66 counties of South Dakota, from Aurora to Ziebach, with Pierre, the capital, in Hughes County; with Borders off it prints the plain outline.
Read the full guide
Blank, numbered or named
Blank prints the 66 shapes with nothing written; Numbered puts 1 on Aurora and 66 on Ziebach, in alphabetical order; Named prints every name, and Print the answer key gives the list.
South Dakota on the map
Meade County, on the eastern edge of the Black Hills, is the largest county. The Missouri River divides the state into East River and West River. Its neighbors, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana, are drawn around it without numbers.
Have students trace the Missouri River first, then label East River and West River counties.
Questions and answers
How many counties does South Dakota have?
Sixty-six in the Census Bureau count, from Aurora County to Ziebach County in alphabetical order.
What county is Pierre in?
Pierre stands in Hughes County, which is number 32 on the numbered sheet. Have students find it first and write Pierre beside it.
Which is the largest county in South Dakota?
Meade County, in the west near the Black Hills and Sturgis. Minnehaha County, around Sioux Falls, has the most people.
Which county of South Dakota has the most people?
Minnehaha County, around Sioux Falls, has more people than any other county in South Dakota, while the capital, Pierre, is in Hughes County.