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Best places to live in South Dakota (2026)

All 3 ranked places in South Dakota, by all-round score.

Ranked by an all-round score: the average of all 15 quality scores (housing costs, taxes, jobs, healthcare, schools, education, family life, safety, natural disasters, climate and more), weighted equally. Places missing from the FBI crime table are left out, since their safety is unknown. Scores are out of 100.

  1. 1Sioux Falls, SDMid-size city · 3-bed $302k · moderate crime49
  2. 2Aberdeen, SDSmall city · 3-bed $233k · moderate crime47
  3. 3Rapid City, SDSmall city · 3-bed $347k · moderate crime45

Cheapest places to live in South Dakota

Ranked by the typical value of a 3-bedroom home (Zillow), lowest first.

  1. 1Aberdeen, SDSmall city · rent $1,170/mo · cost of living 89$233k
  2. 2Sioux Falls, SDMid-size city · rent $1,590/mo · cost of living 91$302k
  3. 3Rapid City, SDSmall city · rent $1,740/mo · cost of living 89$347k

Safest places to live in South Dakota

Ranked by violent crimes per resident in FBI 2019 data, lowest first. Places missing from the FBI table are left out.

  1. 1Sioux Falls, SDMid-size city · violent crime 1.3× the US rate483 per 100k
  2. 2Aberdeen, SDSmall city · violent crime 1.5× the US rate554 per 100k
  3. 3Rapid City, SDSmall city · violent crime 1.9× the US rate707 per 100k

Safest places from natural disasters in South Dakota

Ranked by our natural disaster score: FEMA's expected deaths, injuries and home damage from 18 hazards, plus federally declared disasters in the county since 2000.

  1. 1Rapid City, SD5 declared disasters since 2000 · mainly flooding, cold waves81
  2. 2Sioux Falls, SD8 declared disasters since 2000 · mainly tornadoes, flooding60
  3. 3Aberdeen, SD8 declared disasters since 2000 · mainly cold waves, flooding52

Best places to live for families in South Dakota

Ranked by a family score: the average of our Kids & family, Safety, Schools and Affordable housing scores. Places missing from the FBI crime table are left out.

  1. 1Aberdeen, SDSmall city · schools good · safety average · 3-bed $233k60
  2. 2Sioux Falls, SDMid-size city · schools average · safety average · 3-bed $302k56
  3. 3Rapid City, SDSmall city · schools average · safety average · 3-bed $347k48

Best places for public schools in South Dakota

Ranked by our Schools score: public school math and reading results in 2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP 2019, so places in different states compare fairly.

  1. 1Aberdeen, SDSmall city · tests above US average · 15 students per teacher · 3-bed $233k64
  2. 2Sioux Falls, SDMid-size city · tests close to US average · 16 students per teacher · 3-bed $302k53
  3. 3Rapid City, SDSmall city · tests close to US average · 17 students per teacher · 3-bed $347k49

Best places to live · Cheapest places to live · Safest places to live · Safest places from natural disasters · Best places to live for families · Best places for public schools

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Data: US Census, Zillow, HUD, BEA, FBI 2019, FEMA, NOAA, NASA, CMS, NCES and others. How scores work.