Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,166, settled in 1877. 45% more nonprofits per person than the typical South Dakota town.
Trash & recyclingThe best of Fort Pierre’s subject grades are an A− for cost of living and an A+ for civic life; the weakest is a D for hazard risk. On hazard risk, just 1 of South Dakota’s 85 towns do worse. Fort Pierre is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 75% of U.S. towns. Of the 36 South Dakota towns we compare, none has a higher July high than Fort Pierre. Only 4 of South Dakota’s 73 towns score higher on civic life. Fort Pierre has 8 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them La Verendrye Site and Fort Pierre Chouteau Site. Fort Pierre has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Fort Pierre beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Dakota), ordered by how far Fort Pierre is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 287 in 1880, 2,115 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1837 and 2 maps from 1924 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fort Pierre, 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 Fort Pierre.
Fort Pierre’s FEMA risk score is 91 of 100, against 54 of 100 in South Dakota’s towns and 44 of 100 across U.S. towns. Since 1982, 67 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Fort Pierre.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Stanley County School District 57-1. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stanley County Elementary - 08Largest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 178 | B |
| Stanley County High School - 01Largest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 142 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SD on state tests and graduation
Fort Pierre beats the South Dakota average on 2 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 28% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Fort Pierre, below both South Dakota’s towns (30%) and U.S. towns (36%). 14% of Fort Pierre adults report frequent mental distress.
| Fort Pierre | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 19% | 16% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Fort Pierre | SD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9.2% | 12.7% |
| More adults getting cholesterol checked | 87.8% | 84.8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.4% | 9.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Fort Pierre has cold, snowy winters and warm summers, with very little rain. Fort Pierre’s January low is 9°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 24% of residents (18% statewide). The median age in Fort Pierre is 44.2 years. Fort Pierre has grown 2.2% since 2020, to 2,166 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Fort Pierre | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 24% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 44.2 years | 39.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 25% | 33% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 23% | 22% | 22% |
41% women, 59% men
About 142 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±4.6 points). Across South Dakota, 49.2% of residents are women.
| Fort Pierre | SD | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.7% | 13.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.6% | 11.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.7% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.4% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.6% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11% | 10.7% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.3% | 11% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.7% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.4% | 6.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 39.5% | 29% | 26% |
| Some college | 14.5% | 19.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 16.8% | 12.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.9% | 21.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.8% | 10% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,200, single groups can be off by several points
Most working residents leave Fort Pierre for work: only 17% work in town. 5.6% of residents live below the poverty line in Fort Pierre. Jobs based in Fort Pierre fell to 938 in 2023, 55 fewer than in 2013.
| Fort Pierre | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 29% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.6% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $70,000 | $72,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Fort Pierre home is worth about $301,000, up 1% in a year, 5% below the South Dakota typical home.
| Fort Pierre | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 82% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $913 a month | $962 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
0.6 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Fort Pierre | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.4% | 3.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fishers Lilly Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Fort Pierre; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Fort Pierre residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across South Dakota.
8 places in Fort Pierre on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in South Dakota, United States
Fort Pierre is a city in Stanley County, South Dakota, United States. It is part of the Pierre, South Dakota micropolitan area and the county seat of Stanley County. The population was 2,115 at the 2020 census. The settlement of Fort Pierre developed around an 1832 fort situated on the west bank of the Missouri River, near the confluence with its tributary Bad River. Earlier European exploration was by the French beginning in the early 1700s. An American-owned trading post had been operating near what became the fort since 1817, and in 2017 the city celebrated its bicentennial of continuous permanent settlement.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
45% more nonprofits per person than the typical South Dakota town.
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−.
2 notable people were born here, including John C. Waldron and George Philip Jr..
