Brookings County

Brookings County, South Dakota
Brookings County Courthouse in Brookings
Location in the U.S. state of South Dakota
South Dakota's location in the U.S.
Founded	1871
Named for	Wilmot Wood Brookings
Seat	Brookings
Largest city	Brookings
Area
• Total	805 sq mi (2,085 km2)
• Land	792 sq mi (2,051 km2)
• Water	13 sq mi (34 km2), 1.6%
Population (est.)
• (2016)	34,135
• Density	40/sq mi (20/km2)
Congressional district	At-large
Time zone	Central: UTC−6/−5
Website	www.brookingscountysd.gov

Brookings County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2010 census, the population was 31,965, making it the fifth-most populous county in South Dakota. Its county seat is Brookings. The county was created in 1862 and organized in 1871.

Brookings County comprises the Brookings, SD Micropolitan Statistical Area.

The county was founded July 3, 1871, and was named after Wilmot Wood Brookings (1830-1905), a politician and pioneer of southeastern South Dakota. Medary was the first county seat for eight years from 1871-1879

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 805 square miles (2,080 km²), of which 782 square miles (2,030 km²) is land and 13 square miles (34 km²) (1.6%) is water.

As of the census of 2000, there were 28,220 people, 10,665 households, and 6,217 families residing in the county. The population density was 36 people per square mile (14/km²). There were 11,576 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.36% White, 0.31% Black or African American, 0.90% Native American, 1.34% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.30% from other races, and 0.75% from two or more races. 0.88% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 39.2% were of German, 23.2% Norwegian and 5.7% Irish ancestry.