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File No.
GR-DOSSIER-46059
Active File
Confidence: Public
Resilience Dossier

Hand CountySouth Dakota · SD

66
/ 100excellent
Composite scale0 ─ 100
66
CriticalExcellent
State rank
#3SD
National rank
#129/ 3,436
Population
3,1400.8/km²
FIPS 46059│AREA 3,721 km²│LAT 44.5467 · LON -99.0046
§01

Geospatial

44.55°N, 99.00°W
Map of Hand County, SD
Target ▸ Hand County
N│Mapbox dark-v11
§02

Analyst Brief

Voice ▸ Stratfor

▌Hand County is a county in South Dakota, with a population of 3,140, covering 3,721 square kilometers. Population density is 0.8 people per square kilometer. On the Scout composite resilience index, Hand County scores 66 out of 100, ranked #3 in SD and #129 of 3,436 regions. The five-year average temperature anomaly versus the 20th-century baseline is 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit. Counties above 2.6 degrees fall inside the climate tipping-point band. The FEMA National Risk Index composite hazard score is 11 out of 100. Annual precipitation averages 22.7 inches. Net IRS migration in the most recent tax year was -1.3 per 1,000 residents. USDA classifies the county as Rural-Urban Continuum Code 9 (1 = metropolitan core, 9 = completely rural).

§03

Assessment Matrix

6 Dimensions
D-0163

Climate Stability

Natural hazard exposure, temperature anomaly vs. 20th-century baseline, drought, wildfire, and flood risk.

D-0247

Water & Food

Groundwater reliability, precipitation normals, growing season length, and cropland availability.

D-0375

Social Stability

Net migration, social vulnerability, and crime rates.

D-0464

Infrastructure

Solar energy potential, off-grid power viability, and proximity to nuclear facilities.

D-0575

Self-Sufficiency

Rural-urban classification, agricultural diversity, and land availability.

D-0690

Affordability

Median home value and rental costs relative to the national range. Lower cost counties score higher.

§04

Source Telemetry

14 Inputs
S-01Climate
FEMA NRI hazard score
11.45 /100
Temperature anomaly
2.14 °F
S-02Water
Annual precipitation
22.7 in
Soil saturation depth
2.2 ft
Growing season
145 days
S-03Social
Net migration
-1.3 /1k
Social vulnerability
0.048 /1
Crime index
2 /100
S-04Infrastructure
Solar irradiance
4.1 kWh/m²/d
Distance to nuclear facility
258.3 mi
S-05Self-Sufficiency
Cropland share
64.9 %
Rural-urban code
9 /9
S-06Affordability
Median home value
$150,000
Median rent
$543 /mo

Inputs marked “— —” are pending pipeline integration and currently use neutral defaults in the composite. They do not skew rankings.

§05

Cross-Reference

REF-A

Hand County on the Scout map

See this county in spatial context. Compare with neighbors. Tune the composite weights to your priorities.

REF-B

Top counties in South Dakota

State rollup ranking the highest- and lowest-scoring counties for resilience by composite Scout score.

§06

Citations

Full methodology ▸
  • FEMA-NRIFEMA National Risk Index, county composite hazard score
  • NOAA-TMPNOAA nClimDiv county temperature anomaly, 2020-2024 vs. 1901-2000 baseline
  • NOAA-PCPNOAA county precipitation normals, 1991-2020
  • IRS-MIGIRS county-to-county migration, tax year 2021-2022
  • CDC-SVICDC Social Vulnerability Index, 2022 release (RPL_THEMES)
  • USDA-RUCCUSDA Economic Research Service Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  • NASA-PWRNASA POWER climatology, annual global horizontal irradiance (kWh/m²/day)
  • USDA-NASSUSDA NASS Census of Agriculture 2022, county cropland and total land area
  • USDA-SDMUSDA NRCS Soil Data Mart, average seasonal soil saturation depth (cm)
  • ACS-2022U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates 2022, median home value and gross rent