Aurora County, SD Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Aurora County, South Dakota, shaded from 1,320 ft on the northeast side to 2,010 ft on the northwest side
Elevation
2,010 ft 615 m1,840 ft 560 m1,750 ft 535 m1,580 ft 480 m1,410 ft 430 m1,320 ft 405 m
Contours every 500 ft, bold every 2,500 ft
USGS 3DEP · U.S. Census Bureau
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How to use this mapviews, tools and data
Elevation
Ground colored by height from green (lowest) to white (highest), with contour lines every 40–500 ft (USGS data).
Satellite
A 2016 satellite photo at 33 ft (10 m) detail; contours off.
3D
Tilt and turn the terrain; hills are raised 1.5×, or set ×1 for true height.
Click or tap anywhere
The exact elevation of that spot in ft and m.
Measure
Pick two points for the climb, descent and grade along a straight line.
County area
Fades everything outside the official county boundary (US Census).

Elevation Data

Aurora County averages about 1,570 ft (480 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from 1,320 ft on the northeast side to 2,010 ft on the northwest side.

Average elevation
1,570 ft 480 m
all land inside the county
Highest
2,010 ft 615 m
on the northwest side
Lowest
1,320 ft 405 m
on the northeast side

Aurora County spans about 690 ft of height, so no single spot tells the whole story. The ruler shows where most of its land lies, and where the other numbers you'll see come from.

FigureElevation
Average of all land1,570 ft480 m
Highest point
Inside the county, on the northwest side
2,010 ft615 m
Lowest point
Inside the county, on the northeast side
1,320 ft405 m

Elevation profile, west to east

23 mi west to east through Plankinton.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Aurora County, South Dakota, shaded from 1,320 ft on the northeast side to 2,010 ft on the northwest side
County boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 40 ft (12 m).
Location
County in South Dakota, United States
Population
2,752 2024 est.
Land area
708.5 sq mi + 4.3 sq mi water
Density
3.9 per sq mi
Time zone
Central UTC−6 / −5
Landform regions
Central Lowland 69%, Great Plains 31%
Drains to
Gulf of America
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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS

Nearby Places

Neighboring counties sharing a border, by average

  1. Brule County1,670 ft
  2. Jerauld County1,640 ft
  3. Aurora County1,570 ft
  4. Charles Mix County1,560 ft
  5. Douglas County1,560 ft
  6. Davison County1,380 ft
  7. Sanborn County1,300 ft

Rankings by average elevation

Peaks and hills highest inside

  • Archer Hill1,690 ft
All 25 towns in Aurora County by typical elevation
  1. Patten Township1,810 ft
  2. Aurora Center1,650 ft
  3. Aurora Township, Aurora County1,650 ft
  4. Stickney1,640 ft
  5. White Lake1,640 ft
  6. Gales Township1,640 ft
  7. Center Township1,630 ft
  8. White Lake Township1,630 ft
  9. Truro Township1,620 ft
  10. Lake Township, Aurora County1,620 ft
  11. Crystal Lake Township1,620 ft
  12. Eureka Township, Aurora County1,620 ft
  13. Pleasant Valley Township, Aurora County1,620 ft
  14. Cooper Township1,590 ft
  15. Pleasant Lake Township1,580 ft
  16. Washington Township, Aurora County1,580 ft
  17. Dudley Township1,570 ft
  18. Plankinton1,520 ft
  19. Plankinton Township1,510 ft
  20. Firesteel Township1,480 ft
  21. Bristol Township, Aurora County1,480 ft
  22. Hopper Township1,460 ft
  23. Palatine Township1,370 ft
  24. Storla1,360 ft
  25. Belford Township1,360 ft
How we measure
  • Average: every USGS 3DEP bare-earth cell of land inside the Census county boundary (TIGER/Line, Jan 1 2026), weighted equally, on a 1 arc-second (≈100 ft, 30 m) grid. Land means the boundary minus Census area water.
  • Highest and lowest: the highest land cell. Lowest: the lowest land cell; coastal ground within 3 ft (1 m) of named tidal water counts as sea level.
  • Nearby Places: neighboring counties and rankings use each one's average elevation, on its own grid, the same figure its page shows. Peaks and hills: the highest summits inside the county with at least 980 ft (300 m) of prominence, then the highest federal (GNIS) summits inside it when there are fewer than 5; each is the 3DEP top on a ~7 ft (2 m) window, or the NGS published height when a usable survey mark sits within 160 ft (50 m) of it (shown as published).
  • Towns: each town's typical elevation (population-weighted median of its own 2020 blocks at 1 arc-second); a town is listed when any of its 2020 residents live in the county.
  • Rounding: computed heights are rounded to 10 ft (5 m), or to 1 ft (1 m) under 100 ft; 3DEP is good to about a meter, not a foot. Published figures (NGS survey heights) are shown as their publisher gives them.
  • Datum: North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). NGS plans to replace NAVD 88 with a new datum (NAPGD2022); heights will then shift slightly.
  • Sources: USGS 3DEP, GNIS, Watershed Boundary Dataset and physiographic provinces; U.S. Census Bureau (TIGER boundaries and water, 2020 blocks, 2024 population estimates, county adjacency); NOAA NGS survey heights; BTS time zones. All public domain.