Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Sturgis is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C+ overall, 30th of 35 graded towns in South Dakota, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools rank ahead of 63% of South Dakota towns. It also does better than most on health: residents are healthier than 60% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its lowest everyday mark is in safety: it reports more crime per resident than 78% of U.S. towns, including 23 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. A typical home there costs about $373K, 5 years of the Rapid City metro’s $75K median household income. On walkability, just 3 of South Dakota’s 85 towns do better. Sturgis has 8 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Bear Butte and Sturgis Commercial Block. Among 25 South Dakota towns, just 1 have a higher property crime rate than Sturgis.
Where Sturgis beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Dakota), ordered by how far Sturgis is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 60 in 1880, 7,020 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1884 and 2 maps from 1954 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sturgis, 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 Sturgis.
Sturgis is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has colder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of South Dakota.
Sturgis’ violent crime rate is 3.3 per 1,000 residents, against 1.9 in South Dakota’s towns and 1.6 across U.S. towns. Sturgis reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 78% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Meade School District 46-1. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Sturgis Brown High School - 01, with 845 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sturgis Elementary - 03Largest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 531 | A |
| Sturgis Brown High School - 01Largest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 845 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SD on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sturgis.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 13.8°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 98% of South Dakota places with climate records; July afternoons average 85.3°.
Sturgis has cold, snowy winters and warm summers, with very little rain. Sturgis’ January low is 14°F, where South Dakota’s towns sit at 9°F and U.S. towns at 22°F. About 48 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Sturgis | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 14°F | 9°F | 22°F |
| July high | 85°F | 85°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The median rent in Sturgis is $780 a month. The typical Sturgis home is worth about $373,000, up 2.1% in a year, 17% above the South Dakota typical home.
| Sturgis | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $780 a month | $963 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 67% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
About one in 3 of Sturgis’s working residents works in town. Sturgis’ median household income is $54,000. Since 2013, Sturgis has added 355 jobs, to 2,763 in 2023.
| Sturgis | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 33% | 29% | 8% |
| Median household income | $54,000 | $72,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 7,235 U.S. towns with household incomes like Sturgis’s, it is healthier than 91%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income. Within South Dakota it is less healthy than 74% of the 35 graded towns: South Dakota sets a high bar.
28% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Sturgis. Sturgis beats the South Dakota average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 31% of adults have obesity in Sturgis.
| Sturgis | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 31% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 19% | 16% |
| What stands out | Sturgis | SD |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with arthritis | 30.9% | 25.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 8% | 6.7% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.1% | 6.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2.5 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves.
| Sturgis | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5.6% | 3.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lions Club Park | 0.1 mi | 9 |
| 2. Sturgis City Park | — | 9 |
| 3. Centennial Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the South Dakota average. 24% of Sturgis adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. Sturgis has lost 2.4% of its people since 2020, down to 6,922 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Sturgis | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 24% | 34% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 19% | 19% | 18% |
46% women, 54% men
About 116 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.5 points). Across South Dakota, 49.2% of residents are women.
| Sturgis | SD | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.5% | 13.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.5% | 11.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.6% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.2% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.5% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.7% | 10.7% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.6% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12% | 11% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.4% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.6% | 6.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 34.3% | 29% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.7% | 19.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.9% | 12.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.5% | 21.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 4.9% | 10% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sturgis. Close and well known come first.
Big draw36 mi National MemorialMount Rushmore National Memorial1.9M visitors a year
37 mi MountainBlack Elk Peak
26 mi MuseumDinosaur Park17 mi Ski areaTerry Peak Ski Area28 runs · 1,075 ft vertical
26 mi Stadium & arenaRushmore Plaza Civic Center
33 mi Scenic railwayBlack Hills Central RailroadMount Rushmore National Memorial: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Black Elk Peak: BHrock at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Dinosaur Park: Minnesota Jones at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Rushmore Plaza Civic Center: Mr. Satterly, WTFPL · Black Hills Central Railroad: Eric Friedebach, CC BY 3.0
None within 15 miles of Sturgis; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Sturgis residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across South Dakota.
8 places in Sturgis on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Sturgis.
City in South Dakota, United States
Sturgis is a city in Meade County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 7,020 as of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Meade County and is named after Samuel D. Sturgis, a Union general during the Civil War. Sturgis is notable as the location of one of the largest annual motorcycle events in the world: the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which lasts for 10 days beginning on the first Friday of August. It attracts large numbers of motorcycle enthusiasts from around the world. Sturgis is also noted for hosting WCW's Hog Wild/Road Wild events from 1996 to 1999.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sturgis grades C+ overall, better than 38% of U.S. towns and #30 of 35 in South Dakota. It grades B for health, C− for safety and B for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
7 notable people were born here, including Larry Rhoden and Marty Jackley.
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