Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Minnehaha County
Minnehaha County
County
	Minnehaha County Courthouse in Sioux Falls
	Location within the U.S. state of South Dakota
	South Dakota's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 43°41′N 96°47′W / 43.68°N 96.79°W
Country	United States
State	South Dakota
Founded	1862 (created); 1868 (organized)
Named for	"rapid water"
Seat	Sioux Falls
Largest city	Sioux Falls
Area
• Total	814 sq mi (2,110 km2)
• Land	807 sq mi (2,090 km2)
• Water	6.7 sq mi (17 km2) 0.8%
Population (2020)
• Total	197,214
• Estimate (2023)	206,930
• Density	239/sq mi (92/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	At-large
Website	www.minnehahacounty.org

Minnehaha County is a county on the eastern border of the state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 197,214,^[1] making it the state's most populous county. It contains over 20% of the state's population. Its county seat is Sioux Falls,^[2] South Dakota's most populous city. The county was created in 1862 and organized in 1868.^[3] Its name was derived from the Sioux word Mnihaha, meaning "rapid water," or "waterfall" (often incorrectly translated as "laughing water").^[4]

Minnehaha County is part of the Sioux Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, the state's largest.

^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
^ "Dakota Territory, South Dakota, and North Dakota: Individual County Chronologies". Dakota Territory Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. The Newberry Library. 2006. Archived from the original on April 2, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
^ Stewart, George R. (1945). Names on the Land. Random House. p. 291. In the language of the Sioux, a waterfall was haha; water itself was minne. White men by a misunderstanding had coupled the two words, and produced Minnehaha Falls, a name thus meaning "water-waterfalls-falls". By a complete though natural misunderstanding of haha, the name had been romantically translated as Laughing Water

[QF-1] "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 21, 2024.

[2] "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.

[3] "Dakota Territory, South Dakota, and North Dakota: Individual County Chronologies". Dakota Territory Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. The Newberry Library. 2006. Archived from the original on April 2, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2015.

[4] Stewart, George R. (1945). Names on the Land. Random House. p. 291. In the language of the Sioux, a waterfall was haha; water itself was minne. White men by a misunderstanding had coupled the two words, and produced Minnehaha Falls, a name thus meaning "water-waterfalls-falls". By a complete though natural misunderstanding of haha, the name had been romantically translated as Laughing Water

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