County · code 46013
Brown CountySouth Dakota
Brown County is a county in South Dakota, established in 1879 and named after Alfred Brown, with Aberdeen as its seat.
- Founded1879
- County seatAberdeen
- Named forAlfred Brown
- Land area1,713 sq mi + 18 sq mi water
- Population38,301 2020 Census
- Parcels mapped26,168 checked 16 October 2026
Where it is
Brown on the map of South Dakota
South Dakota has 66 counties and county equivalents, each with its own records office. Shapes with a page are links.
History
Formed in 1879 from Beadle County and Mills County
An old deed may name a county that no longer exists, or a boundary that has since moved.
Brown County was created by Dakota Territory in 1879 from parts of Beadle and Mills counties. It became a county in the state of South Dakota in 1889.
- 1879Brown County created Brown created by Dakota Territory in present South Dakota from Beadle (Dakota Territory, original, extinct) and Mills (Dakota Territory, extinct).from Beadlefrom Mills· Dak. Terr. Laws 1879, 13th sess., ch. 12, sec. 15/p. 26
- 1889Became part of South Dakota Brown became a county in the state of South Dakota. · U.S. Stat., vol. 25, ch. 180[1889]/pp. 676-684; U.S. Stat., vol. 26, no. 5/pp. 1548-1549; Swindler, 9:107-109; Van Zandt, 134
Land and parcels
What the maps cover in Brown
Who publishes each layer, how good it is, and when we last checked.
-
Parcels Official
Lot lines and tax-map numbers for 26,168 parcels from Brown County, SD GIS (owner sbmadsen = Scott Madsen, the county's GIS Coordinator per brown.sd.us; the county's GIS page links its AGOL org bcsdgis; item snippet 'Brown County, SD GIS Data uploaded 10/27/2025'; org profile not public). Drawn for tax purposes: usually within a few feet of a survey, but not a survey.
edited 3 February 2026 · checked 16 October 2026 -
Address points Missing
No public address points layer found for Brown County yet.
-
Buildings Reference
Roof outlines traced from aerial imagery from FEMA Response Geospatial Office with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Good for seeing what is on a lot; not accurate enough to set a fence from.
checked 18 October 2026
- Official
- from the office that keeps the record
- Good enough
- a reliable statewide or national copy
- Fallback
- a guide only; check the official record
- Missing
- nothing public found yet
People and land
Brown by the Census
Source: US Census Bureau, 2020 Census; US Census Bureau, 2020 Gazetteer Files. Not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Rules and offices
Brown County's official site
We have found the county's site but not its offices yet; start there.
County government
- County government
The official website of Brown County.
See your own lot on these maps
Open Brown County on Parcel Chart's free map and click your parcel. Save it with a free account; the full record of your place (site map, projects, documents) is Pro, in early access.
Questions
Common questions about Brown County
- When was Brown County founded?
- Brown County was founded in 1879, formed from Beadle County and Mills County, and named after Alfred Brown.
- What is the county seat of Brown County?
- The county seat of Brown County is Aberdeen.
- Is there an online parcel map for Brown County?
- Yes. Brown County, SD GIS (owner sbmadsen = Scott Madsen, the county's GIS Coordinator per brown.sd.us; the county's GIS page links its AGOL org bcsdgis; item snippet 'Brown County, SD GIS Data uploaded 10/27/2025'; org profile not public) publishes a parcel map of 26,168 parcels, rated official here. You can click any parcel on it in Parcel Chart's free map, no sign-in needed.
- Has Brown County's boundary or name changed?
- Brown County was created in 1879 from Beadle County and Mills County. Since then the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries records 1 later change.
- Is my lot in a flood zone?
- We do not have flood maps for Brown County yet. Look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, which shows the effective flood map for any lot.
Nearby