Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,969, settled in 1909. 2.2 times the nonprofits per person than the typical South Dakota town.
Trash day: look up yoursWinner gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $180K for a typical one, or 3.1 years of the county’s $59K median household income. It grades C overall, ranked 31st of 35 in South Dakota. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $47K, and 28% of residents live below the poverty line, and residents are less healthy than 86% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. 28% of residents live below the poverty line in Winner, against 9.5% in South Dakota’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Winner's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 95% of U.S. towns. Only 2 of the 30 South Dakota towns we compare have a lower midpoint home value than Winner.
Where Winner beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Dakota), ordered by how far Winner is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,000 in 1920, 2,921 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1911 and a map from 1986 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Winner, 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 Winner.
Winner fares better on crime within South Dakota than nationally, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has a shorter frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of South Dakota.
Against the 4,797 U.S. towns with household incomes like Winner’s, it is less healthy than 58%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
11% of Winner adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Only one of the 35 South Dakota towns we compare has a lower share of adults who binge drink than Winner. Two figures for adults here: 16% have diabetes, 17% report frequent physical distress. On the CDC’s 26 measures, Winner is ahead of South Dakota on 1 and behind on 14.
| Winner | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 14% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 10% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 12% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 15% | 19% |
| What stands out | Winner | SD |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 78.9% | 75.9% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.9% | 6.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Two of its 3 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. The Winner School District 59-2 runs its public schools. The 3 public schools in Winner teach 827 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winner Elementary - 04Largest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 465 | C+ |
| Winner High School - 01Largest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 203 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SD on state tests and graduation
69.6% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 39.8% across South Dakota. The median property tax bill is $1,236, against $2,724 across South Dakota, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The share of households in Winner who are owner-occupiers: 62%. Home values are up 7.5% over the year to September 2026. The midpoint rent here is $770 a month. Homes in the town are typically worth about $180,000, up 7.5% in a year, 43% below the South Dakota typical home.
| Winner | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $770 a month | $963 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 62% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 12.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 82% of South Dakota’s graded towns.
For Winner, the level of property crime is 5.7 per 1,000 residents. Its violent crime rate is 1.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Winner | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.7 per 1,000 residents | 10.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.7 per 1,000 residents | 2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Winner weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 159 days: shorter than most of the country, but longer than 92% of South Dakota places with climate records. January nights average 11.9°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 91% of South Dakota places with climate records; July afternoons average 88.5°.
About 49 inches of snow falls in a winter. Winner brings cold, snowy winters and warm summers, with very little rain. The January low for Winner comes to 12°F.
| Winner | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 89°F | 85°F | 85°F |
| January low | 12°F | 9°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 1,260 working residents takes 11.7 minutes, against 17.8 across South Dakota.
Winner’s mean commuting time comes in at 12 minutes. Of the 35 South Dakota towns we compare, none has a lower median household income than Winner. The top destinations are Lamro Township (4%), Sioux Falls (4%) and Black Township (4%). Half of commuters travel less than 1 miles.
| Winner | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 12 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $47,000 | $72,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 58% of U.S. communities. Households in Winner have drawn federal disaster aid in 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2022.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Trails run 0.1 miles in 4 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Winner: 4, covering 32 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bailey's Park | — | 13 |
| 2. Winner City Park | 0.1 mi | 8 |
| 3. McDonald's Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Winner; the nearest are
About 0 of every 100 Winner residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across South Dakota.
City in South Dakota, United States
Winner is a city in central Tripp County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,921 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Tripp County. Winner also serves as the administrative center of neighboring Todd County, which does not have its own county seat. The nearest airport is Winner Regional Airport. Winner was laid out in 1909, and named for the fact the town had emerged the "winner" as the county's most successful trading point.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Winner.
| Town | SD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | #31 | C | B+ | B+ | C | D |
| Lamro Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Lamro Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Winner with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Winner grades C overall, better than 34% of U.S. towns and #31 of 35 in South Dakota. It grades D for health, B+ for safety and C for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
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 B+.
2 notable people were born here, including Delores Taylor and Sonny Bishop.