These Are The 20 Best Small Towns In South Dakota For 2018

You’ve seen these lists before: Best places to live in South Dakota, Most Beautiful Downtowns, etc., etc. But all of them focus on major cities and towns in the Mount Rushmore State and no one pays attention to the little guy.

Well, that’s all about to change as we put together a list of the best small towns in South Dakota based on numbers–not opinions or hearsay.

We’ll dive right into our methodology in the next section; but first, we thought you might just want to know which places in South Dakota ranked the based–you know, based on science.

Before we get to the top 20, here’s a look at the 10 Best Small Towns To Live in South Dakota for 2018:

1. Tea (Homes For Sale)
2. Crooks (Homes For Sale)
3. Groton (Homes For Sale)
4. Dakota Dunes (Homes For Sale)
5. Volga (Photos | Homes For Sale)
6. Piedmont (Homes For Sale)
7. Colonial Pine Hills (Homes For Sale)
8. Elk Point (Photos | Homes For Sale)
9. Britton (Homes For Sale)
10. Fort Pierre (Photos | Homes For Sale)

If you live in one of these small towns like Tea, chances are, you’re not surprised. After all, you know how great you have it.

But for the rest of you–keep reading and we’ll get to just why these small towns made our list.

For more reading on the Mount Rushmore State check out:

• 10 Best Places To Live In South Dakota
• 10 Cheapest Places To Live In South Dakota
• 10 Most Dangerous Cities In South Dakota

How We Determined The Coolest Towns In South Dakota

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the most recent data from the Census’s 2012-2016 American Community Survey and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this is the criteria we used:

• Population Density (Higher is better)
• Lowest Unemployment Rates
• Housing costs (Higher is better. More demand.)
• Adjusted Median Income (Higher is better)
• Highly Educated Adults (Higher is better)
• Insurance Rates (Higher is better)
• Commute Times (Lower is better)

We looked at places with populations lower than 5,000 people and greater than 1,000, of which, there were a lot – 62 to be exact.

We then ranked each place in each category with scores from 1 to 62, averaged them out, and the lowest scores went to our Best Small Towns in South Dakota. Top of that list — Tea.

Keep reading to find out more about our top 20 best small towns in South Dakota.

1. Tea

Population: 4,628
Median Income: $75,473 (4th Best)
Median Home Value: $175,200 (5th Best)
More on Tea: Data| Homes For Sale

2. Crooks

Population: 1,380
Median Income: $85,625 (3rd Best)
Median Home Value: $161,200 (8th Best)
More on Crooks: Data| Homes For Sale

3. Groton

Population: 1,905
Median Income: $64,816 (11th Best)
Median Home Value: $160,300 (9th Best)
More on Groton: Data| Homes For Sale

4. Dakota Dunes

Population: 2,745
Median Income: $94,583 (1st Best)
Median Home Value: $247,700 (2nd Best)
More on Dakota Dunes: Data| Homes For Sale

5. Volga

Population: 1,883
Median Income: $57,500 (15th Best)
Median Home Value: $151,400 (11th Best)
More on Volga: Photos | Data| Homes For Sale

6. Piedmont

Population: 1,111
Median Income: $73,889 (6th Best)
Median Home Value: $171,600 (6th Best)
More on Piedmont: Data| Homes For Sale

7. Colonial Pine Hills

Population: 2,069
Median Income: $92,692 (2nd Best)
Median Home Value: $279,300 (1st Best)
More on Colonial Pine Hills: Data| Homes For Sale

8. Elk Point

Population: 2,120
Median Income: $51,010 (25th Best)
Median Home Value: $131,000 (20th Best)
More on Elk Point: Photos | Data| Homes For Sale

9. Britton

Population: 1,689
Median Income: $60,602 (13th Best)
Median Home Value: $79,000 (43rd Best)
More on Britton: Data| Homes For Sale

10. Fort Pierre

Population: 2,278
Median Income: $60,417 (14th Best)
Median Home Value: $138,400 (15th Best)
More on Fort Pierre: Photos | Data| Homes For Sale

11. Hartford

Population: 2,980
Median Income: $67,031 (9th Best)
Median Home Value: $166,100 (7th Best)
More on Hartford: Photos | Data| Homes For Sale

12. Platte

Population: 1,531
Median Income: $50,484 (26th Best)
Median Home Value: $109,700 (26th Best)
More on Platte: Data| Homes For Sale

13. Dell Rapids

Population: 3,715
Median Income: $63,818 (12th Best)
Median Home Value: $149,400 (12th Best)
More on Dell Rapids: Photos | Data| Homes For Sale

14. Gettysburg

Population: 1,203
Median Income: $49,402 (27th Best)
Median Home Value: $80,900 (39th Best)
More on Gettysburg: Data| Homes For Sale

15. Garretson

Population: 1,291
Median Income: $70,263 (8th Best)
Median Home Value: $141,300 (14th Best)
More on Garretson: Data| Homes For Sale

16. Beresford

Population: 2,324
Median Income: $51,087 (24th Best)
Median Home Value: $111,500 (25th Best)
More on Beresford: Photos | Data| Homes For Sale

17. Worthing

Population: 1,066
Median Income: $66,719 (10th Best)
Median Home Value: $127,200 (22nd Best)
More on Worthing: Data| Homes For Sale

18. Miller

Population: 1,527
Median Income: $41,029 (41st Best)
Median Home Value: $91,700 (33rd Best)
More on Miller: Data| Homes For Sale

19. Summerset

Population: 2,155
Median Income: $74,063 (5th Best)
Median Home Value: $201,900 (3rd Best)
More on Summerset: Data| Homes For Sale

20. Baltic

Population: 1,104
Median Income: $72,386 (7th Best)
Median Home Value: $148,100 (13th Best)
More on Baltic: Data| Homes For Sale

Science Can Tackle Any Issue, Even Small Ones

We said it once and we’ll say it again — this list: it’s just science. We did the research, we crunched the numbers, and it turns out, these 20 small towns in South Dakota are the best, in which to live.

And who can argue with that?

If you’re curious, here are the worst small towns in South Dakota:

1. Porcupine
2. Oglala
3. Antelope

For more South Dakota reading, check out:

• 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In South Dakota
• These Are The 10 Fastest Growing Cities In South Dakota
• 10 Safest Places In South Dakota
• 10 Best Cities For Singles In South Dakota
• 10 Worst Places To Live In South Dakota

Detailed List Of The Best Small Towns In South Dakota