Pierre, the state capital · Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture · CC BY-SA 4.0How South Dakota stacks up
Alongside low costs and a growing population, South Dakota has above-average crime and low home ownership. Across all eight subjects, South Dakota lands 23rd (B). South Dakota tops the country on commuting: the average trip to work takes 17.8 minutes.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
40th of 51C−22/100 More reported crime than in most states. The FBI’s 2025 estimate puts violent crime at 327 per 100,000 residents, the 23rd highest rate of the 50 states and D.C. Only 0% of residents live in a town in the national top quarter, led by Brookings. Every neighbor scores higher, North Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa among them.
Counting property crime too (property + 4 × violent, the weighting our town grades use): 25th highest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Measure: reported crime per resident over the engine’s three crime years (property + 4 × violent), as in our Safety grades. 12 South Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 3,410 nationally.
Crime gathers in the larger cities
Its safest larger towns are Vermillion (#1,511), Watertown (#1,628) and Huron (#1,989), ranked against every U.S. town of 10,000+. At the other end are Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Pierre, in the quarter of U.S. towns reporting the most crime per resident.
| State | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 42% | 0% | |
| Rhode Island | 37% | 0% | |
| New Jersey | 35% | 20% | |
| Pennsylvania | 29% | 37% | |
| Maine | 29% | 15% | |
| South Dakota | 0% | 65% |
Some towns not counted
Each town’s figure is built from its own department’s FBI reports, so towns with gaps sit out rather than being estimated. Here the towns counted hold 96% of residents of towns of 10,000+. One town, Brandon, has too few years reported and sits out. Harrisburg reports no crime of its own, usually a sign that county or state police patrol it. Among its neighbors, North Dakota counts the most (100%) and Nebraska the least (55%).
Schools
33rd of 51C+36/100 Schools a notch below average. It spends $13,040 per pupil (44th) and scores 17th, more than the spending would predict. 33% of students test Proficient on the Nation’s Report Card (17th highest) and 84% graduate on time (18th lowest). Even its best town, Brandon, ranks #644 of 5,230 nationally.
Graduation: 84.0% finish high school on time (class of 2023), 18th lowest. The grade weighs test results and graduation equally.
Per-pupil spending, $13,040 (8th lowest), is shown for context and not graded.
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 14 South Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally.
Cost of living
12th of 51A−78/100 Affordable with few exceptions. South Dakota homeowners pay a typical $2,724 a year in property tax (25th lowest). Town after town lands in the national top quarter: 68% of residents live in one.
A typical home costs 3.4 years of median household income, 17th lowest.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 14 South Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
27th of 51B−48/100 About average health. The state total looks better than its towns do. South Dakota ranks 13th lowest for adults in fair or poor health, at 17%. Harrisburg leads its towns at #834 nationally; 4% of residents live in top-quarter towns.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 14 South Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally.
Housing
37th of 51C28/100 Ownership trails most states. Few residents live in a top-quarter town; its best showing is Brandon, #1,180 nationally. 69% of homes are lived in by their owners, against 65% nationally (19th highest). The state total looks better than its towns do.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 14 South Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
30th of 51C+42/100 Somewhat more exposed than average. Natural hazards are expected to cost $133 a year per $100,000 of buildings, the 21st lowest rate in the country. Top-quarter towns are rare here; Rapid City comes closest at #2,039. The state total looks better than its towns do.
Federal major-disaster declarations, 2015–2025: 12, 26th fewest.
Share of expected building damage: inland flooding 66%, tornado 13%, wildfire 10%.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 14 South Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
2nd of 51A+98/100 Short commutes with few exceptions. Only North Dakota puts more residents in the nation’s shortest-commute quarter of towns. No state has shorter commutes than South Dakota: the average trip to work takes 17.8 minutes. Huron leads its towns at #19 nationally; 98% of residents live in top-quarter towns.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 14 South Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
13th of 51A−76/100 Consistently growing. Builders added 6.6 homes per 1,000 residents in 2025, after the population grew 8.9% from 2010 to 2020 (17th fastest). Town after town lands in the national top quarter: 53% of residents live in one.
New homes permitted in 2025: 6.6 per 1,000 residents (13th most).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 14 South Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally.
How South Dakota compares to its neighbors
Each of its neighbors (North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming) does better on safety.
| South Dakota | North Dakota | Minnesota | Iowa | Nebraska | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | B 5623rd of 51 | A− 8011th of 51 | A+ 963rd of 51 | A 925th of 51 | C+ 4429th of 51 |
| Safety | C− 2229th official · 0% in top towns | C+ 3618th official · 0% in top towns | A− 7615th official · 15% in top towns | B+ 7017th official · 15% in top towns | B 6212th official · 6% in top towns |
| Schools | C+ 3617th official · 2% in top towns | C− 1825th official · 0% in top towns | B+ 6611th official · 15% in top towns | B 6424th official · 14% in top towns | B− 5422nd official · 7% in top towns |
| Cost of living | A− 7825th official · 68% in top towns | B+ 7421st official · 45% in top towns | B− 4634th official · 24% in top towns | B+ 6830th official · 64% in top towns | C+ 3635th official · 14% in top towns |
| Health | B− 4813th official · 4% in top towns | A 927th official · 56% in top towns | A− 826th official · 33% in top towns | B 6415th official · 16% in top towns | B− 507th official · 2% in top towns |
| Housing | C 2819th official · 2% in top towns | D− 245th official · 0% in top towns | A 927th official · 21% in top towns | B− 4611th official · 1% in top towns | D 1034th official · 0% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | C+ 4221st official · 0% in top towns | B+ 7414th official · 22% in top towns | B 6416th official · 13% in top towns | B+ 7018th official · 21% in top towns | D 1233rd official · 0% in top towns |
| Commute | A+ 981st official · 98% in top towns | A+ 1002nd official · 100% in top towns | B+ 7414th official · 44% in top towns | A 908th official · 94% in top towns | A+ 965th official · 98% in top towns |
| Growth | A− 7617th official · 53% in top towns | A+ 984th official · 83% in top towns | B 6020th official · 28% in top towns | B− 5229th official · 28% in top towns | B+ 7021st official · 49% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work