Meade County, South Dakota

Meade County is a located in the  of. It was created in 1889 and was named for Fort Meade, which was garrisoned as a United States military post in the area in 1878 and was named for General. Meade County is the largest county in area in South Dakota. As of 2000, the population was 24,253. Its is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 9,020 (3,482 ). 8,989 km² (3,471 sq mi) of it is land and 31 km² (12 sq mi) of it (0.34%) is water.

Townships
The county is divided into seven : Dakota, Eagle, Howard, Lakeside, Smithville, and Upper Red Owl; and three areas of unorganized territory: Belle Fourche-Cheyenne Valleys, North Meade, and Southwest Meade.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north
 * - east
 * - south
 * - southwest
 * - northwest

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 24,253 people, 8,805 households, and 6,700 families residing in the county. The was 3/km² (7/sq mi). There were 10,149 housing units at an average density of 1/km² (3/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 92.65%, 1.48% or , 2.04% , 0.63% , 0.07% , 0.61% from , and 2.52% from two or more races. 2.10% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 8,805 households out of which 39.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.40% were living together, 8.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.90% were non-families. 19.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the county, the population was spread out with 28.40% under the age of 18, 10.60% from 18 to 24, 29.60% from 25 to 44, 21.00% from 45 to 64, and 10.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 102.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.60 males.