The 10 Best Places To Retire In South Dakota For 2024


The best places to retire in South Dakota are Hot Springs and Sisseton for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

Are you thinking of calling it quits on your career and retiring in Mount Rushmore State? Don’t retire just anywhere in South Dakota. Find one of the best places the state has to offer for retirement.

Why is South Dakota an excellent place to retire? For starters, it has the one of the lowest rents in America. And if you’re an outdoorsman or woman, the rugged terrain of the Black Hills and the Badlands is sure to delight you. Not to mention, you’ll find great fishing at spots like Pactola Lake.

Oh, and, of course, having Mt. Rushmore in your backyard helps get the family to visit and tick a national treasure of their to-see list all at the same time.

How did we develop this list of best places to retire in South Dakota? We started by narrowing our search to 30 cities with a population of at least 2,000. Then we ranked those 30 cities by crime, affordability, weather, median age, and access to activities.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 Best Places To Retire In South Dakota For 2024

  1. Hot Springs
  2. Sisseton
  3. Lead
  4. Canton
  5. Flandreau
  6. Elk Point
  7. Mobridge
  8. Madison
  9. Parkston
  10. Lennox

When choosing a great place to retire, you’ll mostly want to stick around South Dakota’s biggest cities. Almost half the cities you’ll see on this are within an hour’s drive of Sioux Falls.

What is the best place to retire in South Dakota? According to the data, Hot Springs is the best place to retire in South Dakota.

Pack up your golf clubs and fishing rods, get ready to fall in love with chislic, and read on to learn the best places in South Dakota for retirement.

Why did Hot Springs take the top spot? And where are Sioux Falls and Aberdeen?

For more South Dakota state reading:

The 10 Best Places To Retire In South Dakota For 2024

Hot Springs, SD

Source: Wikipedia User devriesm | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,465
Median Income: $47,337
Median Home Price: $297,368
Median Rent: $813
Distance to Closest Airport: 154 miles
More on Hot Springs: Data | Crime | Real Estate

2. Sisseton

Sisseton, SD

Source: Wikipedia User Connor401 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,564
Median Income: $40,100
Median Home Price: $136,506
Median Rent: $552
Distance to Closest Airport: 158 miles
More on Sisseton: Crime | Real Estate

3. Lead

Lead, SD

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 2,993
Median Income: $54,555
Median Home Price: $337,837
Median Rent: $836
Distance to Closest Airport: 167 miles
More on Lead: Crime | Real Estate

Canton, SD

Source: Wikipedia User AlexiusHoratius | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 3,060
Median Income: $71,064
Median Home Price: $269,665
Median Rent: $668
Distance to Closest Airport: 192 miles
More on Canton: Data | Crime | Real Estate

5. Flandreau

Flandreau, SD

Source: Flickr User Sarah&Boston | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,246
Median Income: $54,821
Median Home Price: $184,387
Median Rent: $629
Distance to Closest Airport: 176 miles
More on Flandreau: Crime | Real Estate

6. Elk Point

Elk Point, SD

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 2,177
Median Income: $80,500
Median Home Price: $255,272
Median Rent: $771
Distance to Closest Airport: 173 miles
More on Elk Point: Real Estate

Mobridge, SD

Source: Wikipedia User Eric Friedebach | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,130
Median Income: $54,868
Median Home Price: $128,702
Median Rent: $825
Distance to Closest Airport: 191 miles
More on Mobridge: Data | Crime | Real Estate

Madison, SD

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,271
Median Income: $62,756
Median Home Price: $235,746
Median Rent: $806
Distance to Closest Airport: 200 miles
More on Madison: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

9. Parkston

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 2,003
Median Income: $70,982
Median Home Price: $208,021
Median Rent: $704
Distance to Closest Airport: 254 miles
More on Parkston: Real Estate

10. Lennox

Lennox, SD

Source: Wikipedia User Jon Platek | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,603
Median Income: $64,663
Median Home Price: $283,904
Median Rent: $788
Distance to Closest Airport: 206 miles
More on Lennox: Crime | Real Estate

Methodology: How We Determined The Best Places To Retire In the Mount Rushmore State for 2024

To create our ranking of the best places in South Dakota to retire, we used Saturday Night Science. We analyzed Census data to find all places in the Mount Rushmore State — 381 cities and towns.

We then narrowed it down to places with at least 2,000 people that weren’t townships. This left us with 30 places from across the state.

For these 30, we looked at the following criteria taken from the Census, the FBI’s Crime Report, National Weather Service, and OpenFlights:

  • Low cost of living as measured by rent
  • Low crime
  • Things to do (Museums, Colleges, and Libraries in town)
  • Nice weather
  • Distance to the closest international airport
  • Other retirees (High median age)

We then ranked each of these places for each criterion from one to 30, with the lowest number being the best.

Finally, we took the average rank across these criteria. The place, in this case Hot Springs, with the lowest average rank, was crowned the best of the best, a place for you to start your second career.

The report has been updated for 2024. This list reflects our tenth time ranking the best places to retire in South Dakota.

Summary: Maybe You’re Not Ready To Retire In South Dakota Yet…

So there you have it, the best place to retire in South Dakota goes to Hot Springs.

The best places to retire in South Dakota are Hot Springs, Sisseton, Lead, Canton, Flandreau, Elk Point, Mobridge, Madison, Parkston, and Lennox.

If you’re not ready to hang up your office apparel yet, then these places might be up your alley:

  1. Tea
  2. Box Elder
  3. Sioux Falls

For more South Dakota reading, check out:

Best Places To Retire In South Dakota

Rank City Population Median Income Average Home Prices Median Rent
1 Hot Springs 3,465 $47,337 $297,368 $813
2 Sisseton 2,564 $40,100 $136,506 $552
3 Lead 2,993 $54,555 $337,837 $836
4 Canton 3,060 $71,064 $269,665 $668
5 Flandreau 2,246 $54,821 $184,387 $629
6 Elk Point 2,177 $80,500 $255,272 $771
7 Mobridge 3,130 $54,868 $128,702 $825
8 Madison 6,271 $62,756 $235,746 $806
9 Parkston 2,003 $70,982 $208,021 $704
10 Lennox 2,603 $64,663 $283,904 $788
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.