TeaSD
A town of 8,019, settled in 1894.
Is Tea a good place to live?
Tea grades A− overall, 7th of 35 graded towns in South Dakota, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $120K and residents are healthier than 90% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. It also does better than most on schools: its schools rank ahead of 75% of South Dakota towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: homes are expensive, about $385K for a typical one and 4.6 times the Sioux Falls metro’s $83K median household income. 5.5% of residents are 65 or older in Tea, against 19% in South Dakota’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns. No town among the 35 in South Dakota we compare has a higher share of children under 18 than Tea. Hansen-Hagedorn Barn is on the National Register of Historic Places.
What makes Tea stand out
Where Tea beats most towns.
Tea has grown 110% since 2010
3,806 counted in 2010 and 5,598 in 2020; an estimated 8,019 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 42.7% since 2020, after 47.1% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
How Tea grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Dakota), ordered by how far Tea is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Tea: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Tea, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Tea.
Tea has less heart disease than most of South Dakota and has household incomes well above the South Dakota norm, but it has property taxes 1.5 times the South Dakota norm.
Fewer of Tea’s adults have diabetes than in the typical South Dakota or U.S. town
Its widest gap with South Dakota is heart disease: 3.2% of its 3,575 adults have heart disease, against 6.8% statewide.
Nearly a tenth of Tea adults report frequent physical distress. Only 2 of the 35 South Dakota towns we compare have a lower share of adults who have high blood pressure than Tea. CDC measures, 26 in all: Tea beats South Dakota on 14 and trails on 2.
| Tea | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 19% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 32% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 6.3% | 10% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 8.7% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Tea | SD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 3.2% | 6.8% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 1.8% | 3.5% |
| More binge drinkers | 24% | 18.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Tea earns an A− for schools
Three of the 5 schools are below, and why each made the list. The largest public high school is Tea Area High School - 03, with 717 students. Public schools: the Tea Area School District 41-5.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tea Area Middle School - 02Largest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 583 | B− |
| Tea Area High School - 03Largest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 717 | A |
| Tea Area Legacy Elementary - 01Top results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 538 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SD on state tests and graduation
Tea stands out in South Dakota and nationally: a larger share of its workers work from home
Jobs based here grew from 1,316 in 2013 to 2,006. 19.7% of workers work from home, against 9.7% across South Dakota.
Tea’s average trip to work is 20 minutes. Among 35 South Dakota towns, just 3 have a higher typical household income than Tea. Since 2013, Tea has added 690 jobs, to 2,006 in 2023. In Tea, 4.7% of residents live below the poverty line.
| Tea | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 20% | 6.5% | 11% |
| Median household income | $120,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 9.8% | 31% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 4.7% | 9.6% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Conservation land takes up 2.2% of Tea
Trails total 2.0 miles in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Tea Athletic Complex, at 45 acres. Parks and preserves in the town: 2, covering 56 acres.
| Tea | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.2% | 3.3% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Tea Athletic Complex | 0.5 mi | 45 |
| 2. Tea City Park | — | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Tea earns a C for cost of living
The median property tax bill is $4,166, against $2,724 across South Dakota, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Homes in Tea are typically worth about $385,000, about the same as a year ago, 21% above the South Dakota typical home. For households here, the share who live in a home they own is 80%. The town’s rent at the middle of the market stands at $1,220 a month.
| Tea | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 80% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,220 a month | $958 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Snowy winters and pleasant summers in Tea
A winter brings about 49 inches of snow, with January nights at 8° and July afternoons at 84°.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Low risk in Tea, with tornadoes at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 63% of U.S. communities. Flood insurance has paid one claim in Tea since 2018. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid in 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2024.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Tea reports less crime per resident than 57% of U.S. towns
In Tea, the property offense rate is 7.8 per 1,000 residents. Its rate of reported violence comes in at 1.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Tea | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.8 per 1,000 residents | 10.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.7 per 1,000 residents | 2 | 1.6 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Great Plains Zoo and 5 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Tea. Close and well known come first.
6 mi Zoo & aquariumGreat Plains Zoo
8 mi MuseumWashington Pavilion of Arts and Science
8 mi MuseumPettigrew Home & Museum23 mi MuseumPorter Sculpture Park
34 mi MuseumHinkly House Museum
35 mi MuseumJasper MuseumPhoto credits
Great Plains Zoo: Jake DeGroot, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science: Jon Platek, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pettigrew Home & Museum: Jerry from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Hinkly House Museum: McGhiever, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jasper Museum: Heritage Preservation Department - MNHS, CC BY-SA 2.0
Everything we know about Tea
Colleges nearby
4 within 15 miles of the center of Tea
About 1 of every 100 Tea residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across South Dakota.
90% of working residents leave Tea for work
Where Tea’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Tea
City in South Dakota, United States
Tea is an incorporated city in Lincoln County, South Dakota, United States and is a suburb of Sioux Falls. The population was 5,598 at the 2020 census, and was estimated at 7,699 in 2024. Tea was laid out in 1894. The name "Tea" was selected on account of its brevity and is said to have no significance.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1894
- Area
- 1.7 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,490 ft
- ZIP code
- 57064
- Area code
- 605
Tea’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Tea.
| Town | SD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tea | #7 | A− | C | B | A− | A |
| Delapre Township | — | — | C | — | A− | A |
Delapre Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Delapre Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Tea with a neighbor →
Questions about Tea
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Tea, SD a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Tea grades A− overall, better than 85% of U.S. towns and #7 of 35 in South Dakota. It grades A for health, B for safety and A− for schools.
Is Tea, SD expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.