Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Custer’s best subject grades are an A for civic life and an A− for the outdoors; its weakest is a D for hazard risk. Custer’s concentration of trails is 1.8 miles per square mile, above both South Dakota’s towns (0.6) and U.S. towns (0.4). Custer has 7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Custer County Courthouse and Garlock Building. Custer has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Custer beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Dakota), ordered by how far Custer is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 271 in 1880, 1,919 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1875 and a map from 1954 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Custer. Close and well known come first.
Big draw10 mi National MemorialMount Rushmore National Memorial1.9M visitors a year
Big draw5 mi LandmarkCrazy Horse Memorial
8 mi MountainBlack Elk Peak
Big draw36 mi National ParkBadlands National Park1.1M visitors a year
9 mi State parkCuster State Park
10 mi National ParkWind Cave National Park606K visitors a yearMount Rushmore National Memorial: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Crazy Horse Memorial: Jeffreylcooke, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Black Elk Peak: BHrock at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Badlands National Park: Martin Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Custer State Park: Guimir, Public domain · Wind Cave National Park: USGS/USGov, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Custer, 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 Custer.
Custer’s typical rent is $968 a month, against $962 a month in South Dakota’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. In Custer, 70% of households own their home.
| Custer | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $968 a month | $962 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 70% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Below: Two of its 4 schools, each with why it was picked. Public schools: the Custer School District 16-1. 4 public schools serve Custer, with 658 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custer Elementary - 02Largest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 269 | C+ |
| Custer High School - 01Largest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 272 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SD on state tests and graduation
For adults 25 and older in Custer, the share who hold a bachelor’s degree or more is 26%. 1,803 people lived in Custer by the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate, 7.2% fewer than in 2020. The midpoint age locally is 51.2 years. Among 36 South Dakota towns, just one has a lower share of children under 18 than Custer.
| Custer | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 35% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 51.2 years | 39.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 13% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 26% | 33% | 29% |
55% women, 45% men
About 81 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±4.4 points). Across South Dakota, 49.2% of residents are women.
| Custer | SD | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.2% | 13.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.2% | 11.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.6% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.7% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.9% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 7.1% | 10.7% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.7% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 18.5% | 11% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 16.2% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.9% | 6.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32% | 29% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.8% | 19.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.2% | 12.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18% | 21.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.1% | 10% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,800, single groups can be off by several points
Among adults in Custer, 81% had a checkup this year. On the CDC’s 26 measures, Custer is ahead of South Dakota on 7 and behind on 6. 27% of adults in Custer sleep under 7 hours; 15% binge drink.
| Custer | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 30% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 19% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 31% | 35% |
| What stands out | Custer | SD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.8% | 8.8% |
| Fewer binge drinkers | 15.1% | 18.8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 13.3% | 9.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The national flood insurance program has paid 7 claims in Custer since 1999. On expected storm and flood damage, Custer sits above 72% of U.S. communities. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Custer after 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2025. FEMA puts 40% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to wildfires, and 37% to inland flooding.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In July, afternoons reach 80°; in January, nights fall to 13°, and about 58 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
For Custer, the typical journey to work is 19 minutes. About one worker in three stays in Custer for work. Jobs based in Custer grew to 1,074 in 2023, 87 more than in 2013. Custer: 14% of residents live below the poverty line.
| Custer | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 34% | 29% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Trails run 4.6 miles in 4 parks and preserves. Big Rock Park, at 62 acres with 1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Big Rock Park | 1 mi | 62 |
| 2. Gates Park | — | 18 |
| 3. Harbach Centennial Park | 0.1 mi | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Custer; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Custer residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across South Dakota.
7 places in Custer on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in South Dakota, United States
Custer is a city in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,919 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Custer County.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
That is 6.3 years of the area's median household income ($75,255 across the Rapid City, SD metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
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