Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Britton’s best subject grades are an A+ for cost of living and an A− for walkability and civic life; its weakest is a C− for incomes. Britton has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Marshall County Courthouse and Britton Clinic and Hospital. Britton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Britton beats most towns.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Dakota), ordered by how far Britton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 514 in 1890, 1,215 in 2020. The archive holds 10 old photos and papers going back to 1906 and 2 maps from 1953 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Britton, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Britton.
Households in Britton have drawn federal disaster aid once, in 2007. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 37% come from cold waves and 23% from inland flooding. One claim on flood insurance has been paid out here since 2011.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The public schools here belong to the Britton-Hecla School District 45-4. Of its 3 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. The 3 public schools in Britton teach 390 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Britton-Hecla Elementary - 02Largest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 166 | B |
| Britton-Hecla High School - 01Largest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 127 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SD on state tests and graduation
77% of Britton households live in a home they own, above both South Dakota’s towns (68%) and U.S. towns (73%). Home values are up 6.5% over the year to September 2026. Also worth knowing: the rent at the middle of the market here is $798 a month.
| Britton | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $798 a month | $962 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 77% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The town beats the South Dakota average on 4 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 14% of Britton adults report frequent mental distress, below both the South Dakota town median (15%) and the median of U.S. towns (17%). For adults here, the share who have high blood pressure is 36%.
| Britton | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 22% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 30% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 31% | 35% |
| What stands out | Britton | SD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9.8% | 12.7% |
| More adults screened for colon cancer | 70.9% | 65.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.6% | 9.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Children under 18 are 16% of residents (24% statewide). Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or older in Britton. A bachelor’s degree or higher: 33% of adults 25 and older, vs 32% across South Dakota. For Britton, the median age is 43.9 years.
| Britton | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 16% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 43.9 years | 39.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 19% | 18% |
Somewhere between 35% and 59% women
The Census survey reached too few of Britton’s residents to say more: its margin here is ±12.1 points. Across South Dakota, 49.2% of residents are women.
| Britton | SD | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.1% | 13.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 4.8% | 11.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.3% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.4% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.9% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15.7% | 10.7% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.2% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 6.2% | 11% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 15.3% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.7% | 6.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 36.9% | 29% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.7% | 19.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.2% | 12.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.7% | 21.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.8% | 10% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,200, single groups can be off by several points
Among 36 South Dakota towns, just 3 have a lower typical July afternoon high than Britton. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 2° and about 45 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
In Britton, a quarter of working residents work locally. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Britton dropped by 90, to 621. The town’s average trip to work is 11 minutes. The top destinations are Miller Township (11%), Veblen Township (6%) and Sisseton (6%).
| Britton | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 11 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 25% | 29% | 8% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $72,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
None within 15 miles of Britton; the nearest are
About 9 of every 100 Britton residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across South Dakota.
3 places in Britton on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Britton.
City in South Dakota, United States
Britton is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,215 at the 2020 census. A weekly newspaper, the Britton Journal, is published in Britton.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A+.
