Brown County, SD

What LandBenchmark can tell you about a parcel in Brown County — and, just as importantly, what it can't.

Land area
1,713
sq mi
Water area
17.9
sq mi
County FIPS
46013
Center
45.589, -98.352

Area and center from the US Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer.

Measured terrain around the Brown County centroid

Centroid elevation
395
m (1,296 ft)
Terrain relief
25
m spread (p95−p5, ~20–40 km window)

The county center sits at about 395 m above sea level. Elevation across the sampled window spreads 25 m — flat terrain by our banding (flat <30 m · gently rolling 30–100 m · hilly 100–300 m · mountainous >300 m). These are county-scale context, not parcel measurements — a specific parcel gets its own slope, flood and usable-acreage readings when analyzed.

Elevation measured 2026-07-21 from the AWS Terrain Tiles (terrarium encoding, z10).

Data available for Brown County

  • No free owner records. South Dakota does not publish a free statewide parcel-and-owner dataset, so LandBenchmark cannot show who owns a parcel in Brown County. The county assessor's office is the authoritative source. Every measured signal below is unaffected.
  • Legal description — township, range and section from the BLM Public Land Survey System.
  • FEMA flood zones, wetlands, soil survey and NCCPI soil productivity — the federal layers, all free and all available here.
  • 56 measured signals from satellite imagery and public records — slope and usable acreage, observed surface water, vegetation trend, wildfire and seismic hazard, access and neighboring land use. Each one cites its method, its source, and the date it was observed.

LandBenchmark has no listings and does not know what is for sale in Brown County. It analyses a parcel you point it at. It is an automated Phase-1 desk screen, not a survey, a flood determination, or a substitute for on-site inspection.

Common questions about land in Brown County

Can I see who owns a parcel in Brown County?

Not from free data — South Dakota does not publish a free statewide parcel-ownership dataset, and LandBenchmark does not buy broker data. The Brown County assessor's office is the authoritative source; every measured signal is unaffected.

How hilly is Brown County?

Around the county center, measured elevation spreads 25 m across a ~20–40 km window — flat terrain by our banding. Individual parcels vary: a report measures the actual slope and usable acreage of the parcel you point it at.

What can LandBenchmark measure for a parcel in Brown County?

56 measured signals, each cited with source and observation date: FEMA flood zone plus surface water observed in multi-year imagery, USFWS wetlands, USDA soil survey and productivity, slope and usable acreage, wildfire and seismic hazard, access and surroundings. What a satellite cannot verify — title, zoning, perc results, water rights — goes on a human-verify checklist naming the Brown County offices that can.

Nearest neighboring counties