Best PlacesAberdeen, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Aberdeen, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Aberdeen ranks 1,158th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Aberdeen
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Aberdeen's strengths and weaknesses
Where Aberdeen ranks high
- Short commute12.2 minutes each way, better than 99% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of cities
- Cheap childcare$702 a month, better than 89% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of cities
Where Aberdeen ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Household income$71,859 median, better than only 25% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Aberdeen
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Aberdeen home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,859, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Aberdeen's effective rate of 1.18%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Aberdeen
Aberdeen's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Aberdeen.
Who works in Aberdeen, and how
Work in Aberdeen centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Aberdeen
Aberdeen has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of cities and more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Aberdeen and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Aberdeen, month by month
Aberdeen sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 15° | 5° |
| April | 58° | 43° | 29° |
| July | 88° | 73° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 47° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Aberdeen
The nearest airport, Aberdeen Regional, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 259 miles away.
The best schools in and around Aberdeen
Schools across Aberdeen average a C, better than 30% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- C C Lee Elementary - 05A · 70% proficient
- Ipswich Elementary - 02A− · 60% proficient
- Warner Elementary - 02A− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Frederick Jr. High - 03A+ · 75% proficient
- Groton Area Middle School - 04B+ · 50% proficient
- Warner Middle School - 03B− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Warner High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Groton Area High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Ipswich High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Aberdeen school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Aberdeen measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Aberdeen against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Aberdeen suits
Retirees
The weather beats 68% of cities and health care access beats 63%.
Common questions about living in Aberdeen
Is Aberdeen a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Aberdeen ranks 1,158th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on short commutes, low taxes, and clean air, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Aberdeen expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $228,367. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $71,859 median income, cost of living beats 42% of cities.
Is Aberdeen safe?
Aberdeen is safer than 30% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $425 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Aberdeen?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 28 with lows near 5. That works out to about 114 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of cities.
Is Aberdeen good for families?
Schools beat 30% of cities, crime safety beats 30%, and childcare runs $702 a month.
Compare Aberdeen with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Aberdeen. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Aberdeen represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Aberdeen detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Aberdeen: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Aberdeen: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Aberdeen: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Aberdeen: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Aberdeen detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.