South Dakota — 2025 Year in Review

Land use and zoning activity from city and county planning meetings in South Dakota during 2025.

South Dakota indexed 3,720 projects with decisions in 2025 across 11 counties, with 5,484 approved and 52 denied actions (99.1% approval rate). Brown County led with 1,599 projects (43% of the state), followed by Beadle County (518) and Clay County (475). Together those three counties accounted for 70% of indexed activity.

Read the Complete South Dakota Planning Commission Guide for context on how planning decisions work in South Dakota.

“Projects with decisions” counts unique projects. “Approved” and “Denied” count individual actions (one project can have multiple actions across meetings).

3,720

Projects with decisions

5,484

Approved actions

Denied actions

99.1%

Approval rate (of actions)

By county

County	Projects	Approved actions	Denied actions	Approval %
Beadle	518	660	1	99.8%
Brown	1,599	2,829	29	99.0%
Clay	475	645	4	99.4%
Hand	4	4	0	100.0%
Hanson	5	5	0	100.0%
Hughes	315	360	1	99.7%
Lawrence	452	602	4	99.3%
Meade	86	97	0	100.0%
Pennington	259	275	13	95.5%
Stanley	1	1	0	100.0%
Yankton	6	6	0	100.0%

Data from public meeting documents processed by Boardwalk. Coverage varies by jurisdiction. Not all cities and counties are included.

← All states Try Boardwalk free