Humphrey was born in a room over his father's drugstore in Wallace, South Dakota. He was the son of Ragnild Kristine Sannes (1883–1973), a Norwegian immigrant, and Hubert Humphrey, Sr. (1882–1949). Humphrey spent most of his childhood in Doland, South Dakota, on the Dakota prairie; the town's population was about 600 people when he lived there. His father was a licensed pharmacist who was mayor and a town council member. In the late 1920s a severe economic decline hit Doland; both of the town's banks closed and Humphrey's father fought to keep his drugstore business open.