CottonwoodSD
With 9 residents, this town was settled in 1907.
Is Cottonwood a good place to live?
No town among the 36 in South Dakota we compare has a higher share of homes lived in by their owners than Cottonwood. Cottonwood has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
9 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Moving to Cottonwood: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Cottonwood, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Cottonwood.
Compared with most of South Dakota and the rest of the country, a typical July afternoon in Cottonwood is hotter
Expect cold, snowy winters and warm summers in Cottonwood, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 11° and about 38 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
How healthy Cottonwood is
15% of Cottonwood adults report frequent mental distress, below both South Dakota’s towns (15%) and U.S. towns (17%). Against the South Dakota average, Cottonwood comes out ahead on 1 CDC measures out of 26, and behind on 7. For adults in the town, the share who have diabetes is 14%. What’s more, among 36 South Dakota towns, just 2 have a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than Cottonwood.
| Cottonwood | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 31% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 10% | 12% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 15% | 17% |
| What stands out | Cottonwood | SD |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.5% | 75.9% |
| More adults with heart disease | 9% | 6.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Cottonwood faces a high natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Cottonwood’s natural-hazard score from FEMA stands at 60 of 100, where South Dakota’s towns sit at 54 of 100 and U.S. towns at 44 of 100. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 45% come from inland flooding and 17% from cold waves. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Cottonwood once, in 2019.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Everything we know about Cottonwood
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Cottonwood; the nearest are
About 0 of every 100 Cottonwood residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across South Dakota.
About Cottonwood
Town in the United States
Cottonwood is a town in Jackson County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 12 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 0.9 sq mi
- Elevation
- 2,421 ft
- Area code
- 605
Questions about Cottonwood
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Cottonwood, SD a good place to live?
Cottonwood has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.