Best PlacesArlington Beach, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Arlington Beach, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Arlington Beach ranks 11,738th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Arlington Beach
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.
Arlington Beach's strengths and weaknesses
Where Arlington Beach ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 88% of towns
- Household income$101,399 median, better than 86% of towns
Where Arlington Beach ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 9% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Arlington Beach
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Arlington Beach home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $101,399, 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 Arlington Beach's effective rate of 1.00%, 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 Arlington Beach
Arlington Beach runs older than the country, 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 Arlington Beach.
Who works in Arlington Beach, and how
Work in Arlington Beach centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Arlington Beach
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Arlington Beach.
What the weather is like in Arlington Beach, month by month
Arlington Beach sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 16° | 8° |
| April | 55° | 43° | 33° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 58° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Arlington Beach
The nearest airport, Watertown Regional, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 191 miles away.
The best schools in and around Arlington Beach
Schools across Arlington Beach average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Arlington Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
- Estelline Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
- Sioux Valley Elementary - 02C− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Estelline Middle School - 03B− · 40% proficient
- Arlington Jr. High - 03D · 21% proficient
- Sioux Valley Middle School - 04D · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Sioux Valley High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Arlington High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Estelline High School - 01D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Arlington Beach school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Arlington Beach 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 Arlington Beach against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Arlington Beach
Is Arlington Beach a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Arlington Beach ranks 11,738th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, what local pay buys, and state infrastructure, 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 Arlington Beach expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $254,713. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $101,399 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is Arlington Beach safe?
Yes, Arlington Beach is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $310 per resident a year.
Compare Arlington Beach with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Arlington Beach. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Arlington Beach 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.
Arlington Beach detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Arlington Beach: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Arlington Beach: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Arlington Beach: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Arlington Beach: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Arlington Beach 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.